FORT WORTH – TCU will take on Arkansas in the first-ever men’s basketball charity game at Dickies Arena on Friday at 7 p.m.
NOTES
– The Horned Frogs will support the Cook Children’s Health Foundation and the Razorbacks’ charity is the Arkansas Children’s Foundation.
– TCU is 4-1 at Dickies Arena and played its first college basketball game there against USC on December 6, 2019.
-TCU is 31-17 in neutral-site games under head coach Jamie Dixon.
– Dixon is in his 22nd season as head coach and his ninth season at TCU.
-Dixon is 12 wins away from 500 as a head coach. His 160 wins at TCU rank second all-time.
– The Horned Frogs lost nine scholarship players from last year’s team, including their top seven scorers.
– All six who were ineligible last season signed with a professional team.
– TCU has returned just 4.7% of last season’s scoring, the fewest in the Big 12 and 10th fewest in the nation.
– TCU’s 14.2% return rebounds rank second in the Big 12 and 21st in the nation.
– TCU is returning 7.5% of last season’s minutes played, which is the fewest in the Big 12 and 12th in the nation.
– The top players on last year’s team included all-conference players Emanuel Molenaar And Jameer Nelson Jr.
– Ernest Udeh Jr. is the only returning scholarship player. He started 29 games and averaged 4.3 points and 5.3 rebs.
– TCU’s incoming class includes seven transfers and four freshmen.
– The freshman class is ranked 17th by ESPN and is highlighted by Micah Robinson (64) and David Pons (96).
– Belong to the transfer class Frankie Collins, Noah Reynolds, Trazarine White and Brendon Wenzel, each of whom played at least three years of college basketball before arriving at TCU in the summer.
– White is a two-time All-Colonial Athletic Association guard from UNC Wilmington and has 1,298 career points.
– Collins started at guard at Arizona State the past two seasons and averaged 13.6 points and 3.2 assists last year.
– Reynolds ranked third in the Horizon League with 20.0 points in Green Bay last season.
– Wenzel is a career 37.7% 3-point shooter after shooting exactly that percentage last season at Wyoming.
– Another newcomer, Vasean Alletteaveraged 17.4 points and 5.7 rebounds as a freshman at Old Dominion.
– Returning to being the team Isaiah Manning And Jace Poseywho redshirted as a freshman last season.
– TCU led the nation in fast break points the past two seasons.
– Last season, TCU finished the season in the NCAA tournament for a program-best third straight season.
– TCU has made four NCAA tournament appearances in the past six seasons in which a postseason was held.
– TCU had been to one NCAA Tournament in the 30 years prior to Dixon’s first appearance in 2018.
– TCU’s winning percentage during Dixon’s eight seasons is .593, the best by a TCU coach in 20 years.
– Only 22 active D1 coaches have more wins than Dixon.
– TCU has 17 seasons of 20 or more wins in its history and six have come in the last eight seasons.
-Dixon has 20 wins in a season, 18 wins in 21 seasons as a head coach.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
– Arkansas is led by John Calipari in his first season as head coach. Calipari has 855 wins in 32 years as a head coach and was last in that position at Kentucky.
– The Razorbacks have thirteen newcomers, including seven transfers and six freshmen. Their lone returning starter is Trevon Brazile, who averaged 8.6 points and 5.9 rebounds last season.
– Arkansas defeated No. 1 Kansas in its first exhibition, 85-69, on Oct. 25 in Fayetteville, Ark. DJ Wagner led the team with 24 points.
SERIES HISTORY
– Arkansas leads the all-time series 105-38.
– The last meeting took place in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on February 25, 2020. The Razorbacks won the home game 78-67.
– The last time Arkansas came to Fort Worth for a regular season game was Jan. 15, 1991, and it was a 93-73 victory at the hands of the Razorbacks.
NEXT
– TCU opens its 114th season of men’s basketball against Florida A&M on Monday. Tip at Schollmaier Arena airs on ESPN+ at 7 p.m.
