UALR Coach Steve Shields had trouble getting home nonconference games for his men's basketball team a year ago.
This year's schedule includes two more than last, thanks in part to the Trojans hosting part of a regional tournament.
UALR released its men's and women's nonconference basketball schedules Monday, and they include men's home games against Tulsa, an NCAA Tournament team a year ago, Kent State and the start of a series against the University of Central Arkansas.
The biggest addition, though, are two games in November at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. UALR will play at BYU on Nov. 18 as part of the Maui Invitational's opening games, and hosts Missouri-Kansas City on Nov. 22 and either California State-Northridge or Samford on Nov. 23.
No teams playing in Little Rock advance to the Maui Invitational in Hawaii, but for UALR it's two more nonconference home games.
Shields said former Wake Forest Coach Dave Odom, who is chairman for the Maui Invitational, contacted him about hosting the games after having scheduled the games at UALR's former Sun Belt-rival Middle Tennessee last year.
"It was a real positive for Middle Tennessee, and its a real positive for us," Shields said. "You get two home games to help a competitive schedule that prepares you for conference play."
UALR will open Nov. 16 against Arkansas-Monticello before hosting Central Arkansas (Nov. 29), Tulsa (Dec. 7) and Kent State (Dec. 14). The Tulsa game is the second in a four-year series, and UALR will play at Kent State next season. Six of UALR's 10 nonconference games will be at home, a year after only four of its 12 were at home with only two of those were against NCAA Division I opponents.
"Any time you can play more home games than road games, that's a positive," Shields said. "There are no guarantees no matter where it is, but for your fans, for your season -ticket packages, you want to have a nice home schedule. That's what I'm excited about."
The UALR women's team opens the season Nov. 14 at LSU, and for the second consecutive season it will have a team from a major conference visit the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans will host Oklahoma, which has reached the NCAA Tournament in each of the past 14 seasons, on Dec. 14.
UALR was scheduled to host Texas this year, but Coach Joe Foley said the Longhorns asked to move the game to next year after its game with Texas A&M was scheduled for Verizon Arena in North Little Rock. The Trojans will play at Rice (Nov. 22), at Memphis (Nov. 29) and at Tulsa (Dec. 21).
"I don't think anybody in the country will have a tougher nonconference," Foley said. "We're pleased we can bring in big-time opponents. That makes basketball a lot more exciting to have that on your home floor."
Sports on 08/19/2014