Razorbacks finalize nonconference foes

Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson calls out to his team against Auburn Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson calls out to his team against Auburn Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas and Texas have played 152 times in men's basketball, but just four of those meetings have come since the Razorbacks left the Southwest Conference for the SEC after the 1990-91 season.

Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said he'd like to schedule a long-term basketball series with Texas.

For now, the Razorbacks -- who have an 85-67 lead in the series -- are scheduled to play the Longhorns on Dec. 17 at the Toyota Center in Houston. Tipoff is 1:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

The Arkansas-Texas game is the highlight of the Razorbacks' finalized nonconference schedule announced Thursday.

Shaka Smart is going into his second season as the Longhorns' coach.

"Shaka and I are pretty good friends, and I think hopefully over a period of time we can really get a series going with them," Anderson said. "I think our fans are excited about playing Texas. There's a history there.

"But more importantly to me, it's a very good team. They played in the [NCAA] Tournament last year. And we know how they want to play. They want to get up and down the floor like we do."

It will be Arkansas' first game against Texas since the the 2010-11 season when the Longhorns beat the Razorbacks 79-46 at Austin, Texas. The teams haven't met at a neutral site since Arkansas' 120-89 victory at Dallas in the 1991 SWC Tournament championship game when Anderson was a Razorbacks assistant for coach Nolan Richardson.

The Arkansas-Texas game will be part of a doubleheader at the Toyota Center, with Texas A&M playing Arizona State in the opener at 11 a.m.

Other notable nonconference games for the Razorbacks are at Minnesota on Nov. 22, against Houston on Dec. 6 in Walton Arena and at Oklahoma State on Jan. 28 in the Big 12-SEC Challenge.

Arkansas will open the regular season against Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne on Nov. 11 in Walton Arena. Other nonconference games in Fayetteville are against Southern Illinois on Nov. 14, Texas-Arlington on Nov. 18, Mount Saint Mary's on Nov. 28, Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 1, Austin Peay on Dec. 3, North Florida on Dec. 10 and North Dakota State on Dec. 20.

The Razorbacks play Sam Houston State on Dec. 22 at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.

"I feel this is one of our better nonconference schedules that we've had since we've been here," said Anderson, who is going into his sixth season at Arkansas. "Coming into this year we certainly wanted to play some of the better teams. You want to get some that are going to prepare you for conference play. "

Arkansas will play exhibition games against Central Missouri on Oct. 28 and Emporia State on Nov. 4.

Sports on 08/26/2016

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