BASKETBALL
Arkansas to play Texas Tech
Arkansas will play former Southwest Conference rival Texas Tech on Jan. 30 at Walton Arena in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge, the SEC office announced Thursday. The game will be televised either on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. A tip-off time hasn’t been released.
It will be the first time Texas Tech has played at Fayetteville since the 1990-1991 season when the Razorbacks won 87-69 in their final SWC season. The teams have played twice since then, with Arkansas winning 78-65 in Dallas during the 2005-2006 season and Texas Tech winning 71-56 in North Little Rock during the 2006-2007 season.
Arkansas junior guard Dusty Hannahs will be facing his old team. He redshirted at Arkansas last season after transferring from Texas Tech where he averaged 7.7 points as a sophomore.
— Bob Holt
Two UALR players given releases
Andre Brown and Jerron Washington have each been released from their scholarships with the UALR men’s basketball team, the school confirmed Thursday.
Brown, a 6-6 forward, and Washington, a 6-4 forward, each signed with UALR last spring from Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis.
— Troy Schulte
FOOTBALL
Hogs face tough slate
Arkansas will not play the toughest football schedule in the nation again in 2015, analyst Phil Steele reported Thursday.
The Razorbacks’ schedule this fall has been judged as the third-toughest in the country.
Steele rated Alabama first, followed by USC, Arkansas, California and Washington. Rounding out his top 10 were Auburn, Texas, Utah, Stanford and Kansas. Steele factors in opponent won-loss records, expected strength of opponents and other factors in his ratings as compared to the NCAA’s ratings, which simply compute opponents’ won-loss records.
— Tom Murphy
SWIMMING AND DIVING
UALR receives $250,000 gift
The UALR swimming and diving team has received a $250,000 gift from an anonymous donor to establish an endowment to benefit the program. The fund will provide additional scholarship and operational support, the school announced Thursday.
“A gift of this magnitude can change the face of our program by providing scholarship support equal to our peer conference competition,” said Coach Amy Burgess, whose team competes in the Missouri Valley Conference.
GOLF
Arkansas 11th at NCAA Regional
Arkansas’ Kolton Crawford shot an even-par 70 to finish tied for fifth in the first round of the NCAA New Haven Regional at The Course at Yale Thursday.
Crawford started and finished his round with a birdie and is tied for fifth with six others.
Arkansas is in 11th place with a 301. South Florida leads with a 281 while Ohio State is second at 282 and San Diego State third at 284.