Men's Basketball Hosts No. 15 Arkansas on Fan Appreciation Night

Tuesday, January 27

Norman, Okla.

6 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

Arkansas

NORMAN, OK - January 17, 2026 - Oklahoma forward Derrion Reid (#35) during the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Oklahoma Sooners at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, OK. Photo By Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma

Photo by: Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma

Men's Basketball Hosts No. 15 Arkansas on Fan Appreciation Night

January 26, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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NORMAN — The Oklahoma men's basketball team (11-9, 1-6 SEC) starts a two-game homestand when it hosts No. 15/16 Arkansas (15-5, 5-2) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. Due to the weekend's winter weather, the OU Athletics Department has announced a Fan Appreciation Night, with free admission to the game.

Tuesday's contest will be televised by ESPN with Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Dane Bradshaw (analyst) announcing. It will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry on the call.

OU is 8-2 at home this season, with six of its top seven scorers shooting over 50% from the field in those games (the other is shooting 45%). It is outshooting opponents 50%-42% from the field and 38%-33% from 3-point range in the 10 contests. Arkansas is 1-3 in true road games.

Even though this is just Oklahoma's second year in the SEC, OU and Arkansas have played each of the last four years, with the Sooners winning three of those contests under head coach Porter Moser. The first three of those four games were played in Tulsa in the Crimson and Cardinal Classic (OU won 88-66 in 2021-22 and 79-70 in 2023-24; Arkansas won 88-78 in 2022-23). The Sooners were also 65-62 victors last year in Fayetteville. Moser is 3-1 all-time against Arkansas as a head coach.

Fans who purchased a single-game ticket to Tuesday's game against Arkansas but are not able to attend due to weather conditions may contact the OU Athletics Ticket Office by email at outickets@ou.edu to exchange their ticket for one to a different home men's basketball game.

Oklahoma vs. Arkansas
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 27
Tip Time: 6 p.m. (CT)
Location: Norman, Okla.
Arena: Lloyd Noble Center

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OU GAME NOTES

SCENE SETTERS

• OU is the only SEC team and one of just seven out of 361 nationally to start the same lineup every game this season. Its starters have been guards Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack, forwards Tae Davis and Derrion Reid and center Mohamed Wague. Arkansas has started five different lineups.

• Pack scored a game-high 22 points for Miami (Fla.) against Arkansas on Dec. 3 last season in Coral Gables. The Razorbacks won 76-73 in the SEC/ACC Challenge game, but Pack was 9 for 16 from the field, 3 for 7 from deep and logged six rebounds and a game-high-tying six assists.

• Arkansas is in its second year under head coach John Calipari, who spent the previous 15 seasons at Kentucky and led the Wildcats to three Final Fours (2011, '12 and '15) and the 2012 national title. The Razorbacks went 22-14 last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 as a No. 10 seed (beat Kansas and St. John's; lost to Texas Tech).

• Tuesday will mark Calipari's third game as a head coach in Norman. As a 33-year-old in 1992-93, Calipari's No. 23 UMass squad lost 93-83 to No. 11 Oklahoma at Lloyd Noble Center. Jeff Webster and Terry Evans scored 25 and 22 points to pace OU. Then in the 1993-94 season opener, he directed his No. 18 Minutemen to an 84-83 season-opening win over the unranked Sooners behind 28 points from Donta Bright (13 for 15 on field goals) and 27 from Lou Roe. Those two seasons were Billy Tubbs' last at OU.

• Moser and Calipari are two of the six SEC head coaches who have coached in at least one Final Four. The others are Tennessee's Rick Barnes, Ole Miss' Chris Beard, Florida's Todd Golden and Alabama's Nate Oats.

SERIES HISTORY

• Although it trails Arkansas 17-15 in the overall series, Oklahoma has won 10 of the last 15 meetings. The Sooners hold a 9-3 advantage in games played in Norman and have won the last five matchups there (by an average of 17.0 points) and nine of the last 10. Arkansas' last victory in Norman came in the 1977-78 season (64-53). Its other two wins there came in the series' first two games on back-to-back days in December 1938 (39-31 and 36-30).

• Fourteen of Oklahoma's 15 wins over Arkansas have been by at least nine points, 12 have been by double digits, seven have been by at least 15 points and three have been by at least 20 points. OU's average victory margin is 14.3 points. Arkansas' average victory margin in the series is 7.5 points (only four wins have been by double digits and only one by more than 11 points).

• At 32 games, Arkansas is Oklahoma's most common opponent among current SEC programs the Sooners never shared a conference with before joining the SEC (Alabama is next at 12 meetings). OU has faced former conference mates Missouri 215 times, Texas 107 times and Texas A&M 45 times.

LAST YEAR VS. RAZORBACKS

• In a back-and-forth game on Jan. 25 last year in Fayetteville, Oklahoma built a 33-20 first-half lead, fell behind 50-44 midway through the second half and used a 21-12 run over the final 9:33 to win 65-62 over the Razorbacks. It broke the Sooners' three-game losing streak at Bud Walton Arena and was their first win there since the 2001-02 Final Four squad posted a 69-54 triumph.

• Freshman guard Jeremiah Fears finished with an OU-high 16 points (was 7 for 7 on free throws), five rebounds and three assists. Senior forward Jalon Moore scored in double figures for the 14th straight game, tallying 13 points, including a game-clinching dunk in the final second. He added six rebounds.

• OU entered the game ranked 15th out of 16 teams in league play with its -6.2 rebounding margin, but outboarded UA 35-29. The Sooners outscored the Razorbacks 13-7 in second-chance points.

• Oklahoma held Arkansas to .370 field goal shooting, including a .333 mark in the second half. The Razorbacks' .370 field goal mark was the lowest by an OU opponent since the season opener.

OU'S 'X' FACTOR

• Junior guard Xzayvier Brown has scored at least 18 points in nine of the last 11 games and is averaging 19.2 in those 11 contests on 50% field goal, 40% (23-for-57) 3-point and 92% (48-for-52) free throw shooting. Included were four 20-point games in SEC play (23 in a win over Ole Miss, a season-high 24 against No. 19 Florida, 21 vs. No. 18 Alabama and 22 at South Carolina).

• Brown's four 20-point games in SEC play are one shy of the lead (Kentucky's Otega Oweh has five).

• In OU's three SEC home games, Brown is averaging 22.7 points. He is 8 for 14 (.571) from 3-point range and has committed just four turnovers.

• Brown leads the SEC by shooting 91% from the free throw line (72 for 79). His streak of 27 makes ended Jan. 13 vs. Florida but he has made 50 of his last 54 attempts (93%).

• After scoring at least 20 points in 14 of 35 games last year at Saint Joseph's (40%), Brown has a team-high nine games of 20-plus in 20 outings this season (45%; Nijel Pack ranks second with four such efforts). Brown has 29 career games of at least 20.

PACK MENTALITY

• First-year Sooner guard Nijel Pack surpassed the 2,000-point mark Jan. 11 at Texas A&M and now has 2,058 for his career to rank third nationally among active players.

• Pack ranks fourth in the SEC with his 3.1 3-pointers per game and with his .422 3-point FG percentage.

• Pack has made at least one 3-pointer in 18 of 20 games, at least three in 12 contests and at least four in nine outings. He buried at least three treys in six consecutive games between Nov. 11 and Dec. 2, the first Sooner to accomplish the feat since consensus national player of the year Buddy Hield during OU's 2015-16 Final Four campaign.

• A sixth-year collegian, Pack spent his first two seasons at Kansas State (he was a first-team All-Big 12 pick as a sophomore when he averaged 17.4 points and made 95 3-pointers and shot a league-high .436 from behind the arc) and the last three at Miami, Fla. (he helped the Hurricanes to their first Final Four his junior season and was named the Midwest Region Most Outstanding Player). He has started 141 of his 142 career games.

ELATONTSEV MAKING AN IMPACT

• OU announced Dec. 28 the signing of 23-year-old Kirill Elatontsev (pronounced kee-REEL EE-el-uh-tahn-suv), a center from Russia who is averaging 5.5 points and 2.9 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per contest over his eight games. He is shooting 62% from the field, 64% (7 for 11) from 3-point range and 69% (11 for 16) from the free throw line. He has made at least one 3-pointer in each of the last four games.

• On Jan. 13 vs. No. 19 Florida, Elatontsev scored 17 points on 4-for-4 field goal shooting (all 3-pointers)after totaling two points over OU's first three league games. Over the last four contests he is averaging 9.0 points on 10-for-14 (71%) field goal and 7-for-10 (70%) 3-point shooting and has six steals.

• From Krasnoyarsk, Russia, the 6-11, 240-pound Elatontsev has one semester of eligibility remaining. He most recently played for Lokomotiv Kuban in the VTB United League, which is regarded as the top tier of Russian professional club basketball. In February 2024 he was called up to the Russian National Team.

MORE OU NOTES AND NUGGETS

• Oklahoma's 83.7 scoring average is its highest through a season's first 20 games since 2017-18 and fifth highest in the last 32 years. Similarly, OU's 9.7 3-pointers per game are its third most through 20 contests in the 40-year 3-point era.

• OU has scored at least 85 points in 11 of its 20 games (55%), already its most 85-point efforts in a season since 2017-18. For comparison, OU's last four teams scored 85-plus a combined 21 times in 133 games (16%; nine times last year, six in 2023-24, two in 2022-23 and four in 2021-22).

• Oklahoma has committed single-digit turnovers 10 times, already its most such outings for an entire season in six years (11 times in 2019-20). It averages just 10.1 turnovers per contest.

• OU's top four scorers are all transfers in their first year in the program. Xzayvier Brown averages a team-high 16.5 points per game, while Nijel Pack (15.7), Tae Davis (13.0) and Derrion Reid (11.8) also average double figures. Mohamed Wague rounds out the starting five with his 6.8 per contest.

• Reid's seven highest-scoring games of his career have come in his last 15 outings, as he tallied 16 points against Alcorn State, 15 vs. Marquette, 18 at Wake Forest, 15 vs. Kansas City, a career-high 22 against Stetson, 19 at Texas A&M (to go along with a career-high 11 rebounds) and 16 vs. No. 18 Alabama (with nine boards)

• Wague (3.0) and Davis (2.8) rank fourth and sixth in the SEC in offensive rebounds per game. Davis surpassed 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds this season (has 1,142 and 555).

• Davis went 3 for 27 (11%) from 3-point range and 41 for 66 (62%) from the free throw line over OU's first 17 games, but is 3 for 6 (50%) and 10 for 11 (91%), respectively, over the last three.

• Redshirt freshman forward Kuol Atak ranks third on the team with his 26 3-point makes (shooting 39%) despite averaging just 12.1 minutes over his 17 games. He is 19 for 39 (49%) from long distance in home contests, including 10 for 19 (53%) over his last three outings at Lloyd Noble Center. He has played in just one of the last three games (one minute at South Carolina).

• Long Beach State transfer Jadon Jones, who is in his second year with OU and first year playing, provides 6.2 points per game off the bench in an average of 21.6 minutes over his 16 outings. He has also drawn 10 fouls while attempting a 3-pointer. Jones missed all of last season and this year's first four games due to injury. The 2021-22 Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year has 10 steals and seven blocks over the past three games.