BASKETBALL
Arkansas opens SEC play at Georgia
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ men’s basketball team open SEC play at Georgia at 8 p.m. Jan. 6 in the first of ESPN’s Super Tuesday national telecasts. It will be the Razorbacks’ only Super Tuesday appearance.
The full Super Tuesday schedule announced Wednesday is (all times Central):
Jan. 6 – Arkansas at Georgia (6 p.m.), Jan. 13 – Missouri at Kentucky (8 p.m.), Jan. 20 – LSU at Florida (6 p.m.), Jan. 27 – Florida at Alabama (8 p.m.), Feb. 3 – Florida at Vanderbilt (8 p.m.), Feb. 10 – Kentucky at LSU (6 p.m.), Feb. 17 – Kentucky at Tennessee (6 p.m.), Feb. 24 – Florida at Missouri (8 p.m.) and March 3 – Kentucky at Georgia (8 p.m.).
GOLF
Lee to defend match play title
Defending champion Stan Lee, 61, of Tumbling Shoals is one of about 50 players entered in this week’s Arkansas State Golf Association Match Play championship which tees off today at The Greens at North Hills in Sherwood.
Lee won his fifth match play title last year, defeating Drew Greenwood 4 and 3 at North Hills.
Greenwood also is entered in this year’s field as are the top three players in the 2014 ASGA Player of the Year standings — Wes McNulty of White Hall, Chris Jenkins of Little Rock and Trey Schaap of North Little Rock.
Players will complete in stroke play today to determine the seedings for match play which begins Friday morning. The championship flight rounds of 64 and 32 will be played Friday with the round of 16 set for Saturday morning and the quarterfinals to be held later that afternoon.
Semifinal matches will be played Sunday morning with the championship set for that afternoon.
— Frankie Frisco
Arkansans tied for 43rd
Austin Cook of Jonesboro and Little Rock’s Drew Laning are tied for 43rd place at even par after Wednesday’s first round of the Adams Tour’s Southeast Texas Championship in Beaumont, Texas, but sit just five shots off the lead.
Cook birdied his first hole, but went on to bogey two of the next three and finished the front nine at 1 over. He had three birdies and two bogeys to shoot 1 under on the back nine.
Laning also birdied his first hole but bogeyed the par-4 seventh hole. He had another birdie and another bogey on the back nine to finish at even par.
Nick Wilson of Little Rock shot a 4-over 75 and is tied for 91st place. He bogeyed 5 of the first 7 holes and 6 of the first 10, but recovered a bit with birdies on Nos. 11 and 12. He added a bogey on the 16th and finished the back nine at 1 under after shooting 5 over on the front.
SOCCER
UCA’s Randall on Southland preseason team
Central Arkansas senior midfielder Vanessa Randall was named to the Southland Conference preseason first team Wednesday.
Randall, from Dallas, scored one goal and had two assists last season for the Bears, who finished 9-10-2 overall and 6-6 in the Southland.
UCA hosts Oral Roberts in an exhibition match Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Bill Stephens Soccer Complex. Its first regular-season game is Aug. 23 in Conway against Louisiana Tech.
CROSS COUNTRY
UALR hires Batey as coach
Aaron Batey has been named men’s and women’s cross country and distance coach at UALR.
Batey has served as an assistant coach at UALR since 2010 after a four-year career with the Trojans.
Former coach Milton Williams is now the school’s director of track and field/cross country.
Batey will coach the men’s and women’s cross country teams as well as all men’s and women’s distance and middle distance events for the indoor and outdoor track and field teams.