Razorbacks announce non-conference basketball schedule

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Arkansas men’s basketball program will open the 202324 season — the fifth under head coach Eric Musselman — on Nov. 6.

The non-conference slate includes eight games in Bud Walton Arena, a trip to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis during Thanksgiving, the third and final meeting with Oklahoma in Tulsa and the Razorbacks’ annual trip to North Little Rock.

The first regular-season game, against two-time defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Alcorn State, will be the second-earliest opener in program history. The earliest opener was when Arkansas hosted Rice on Nov. 5, 2019 — the first game of the Musselman era.

For the second time in three years, Arkansas’s second game of the year will come against Gardner-Webb. Two seasons ago, the Hogs defeated the Runnin’ Bulldogs 86-69 on Nov. 13. This year’s meeting with GWU will be on Nov. 10. The Razorbacks will close the opening four-game homestand against Old Dominion (Dec. 13) and North Carolina-Greensboro (Dec. 17). ODU won 19 games last season while UNCG won 20 games last season and finished a game out of first place in the Southern Conference. Arkansas defeated UNCG 6558 last season on Dec. 6.

Arkansas will then travel to The Bahamas on Nov. 22-24 for the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis, facing Stanford in the opener, either Memphis or Michigan Game 2 and either North Carolina, Northern Iowa, Texas Tech or Villanova on Day 3.

The Razorbacks close the month by returning home for the highly-anticipated matchup with Duke on Nov. 29 as part of the Southeastern Conference-Atlantic Coast Conference Challenge.

This will mark the first time Arkansas has ever played eight games in the month of November. Arkansas is 14141 (.775) all-time in November and Musselman is 22-1 as Razorback head coach in the month with his lone setback coming to Creighton in last season’s Maui Invitational.

Arkansas will play three home games in December and two games away from Bud Walton Arena, but close to home. First, the Hogs welcome defending Southern Conference champion Furman on Dec. 4. The Paladins have won 22-plus games in five of the last six years and upset No. 4 Virginia in last year’s NCAA Tournament.

The Razorbacks will then play a pair of neutral site games. First, the Hogs will make the short trip to Tulsa to face OU (Dec. 9) for the third edition of the Crimson and Cardinal Classic. Second, Arkansas will entertain Lipscomb on Dec. 16 at North Little Rock’s Simmons Bank Arena.

Arkansas closes its non-conference schedule by hosting Abilene Christian on Dec. 21 and UNC Wilmington on Dec. 30. The Hogs hosted ACU during the 2022-21 season, a year the Wildcats reached the NCAA Tournament and upset No. 3 Texas in the first round. This will be the first meeting with UNCW, a program that has won 47 games over the last two seasons.

A charity exhibition game with Purdue was previously announced and will be played on Oct. 28.