FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ basketball game at Texas Tech, part of the sixth annual Big 12/SEC Challenge, will tip off at 5 p.m. on Jan. 26, ESPN announced Thursday.
The game will broadcast on either ESPN or ESPN2.
It is the fifth consecutive season Arkansas will participate in the inter-conference challenge. The Razorbacks are 2-2 in those games the last four seasons, most recently beating Oklahoma State 66-65 in Bud Walton Arena on Jan. 27.
The Red Raiders are coming off a 27-10 season in which they made the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Texas Tech lost 71-59 to eventual national champion Villanova in the East Region championship game in Boston.
Like Arkansas, Texas Tech will have to rebuild its roster in 2018-19. The Red Raiders are losing five of their top six scorers and return only one player - sophomore forward Jarrett Culver (11.2 points, 4.8 rebounds) - who averaged more than 5 points per game.
Texas Tech is coached by Chris Beard, known well in Arkansas because of his one-year stint at Arkansas-Little Rock that culminated in a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2016.
The all-time series is tied 39-39, but Arkansas has won six of the last seven meetings against Texas Tech, a former Southwest Conference foe. It will be the fourth time the teams have played since the Razorbacks left the SWC following the 1990-91 season.