Report: Arkansas men’s basketball to travel to Miami for ACC/SEC Challenge
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas men’s basketball team will face Miami as part of the 2024 ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec. 3 at Watson Center, according to a report by CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.
This is the third nonconference contest for the Razorbacks to be reported, joining a trip to Madison Square Garden in New York to play Michigan on Dec. 10 and a guarantee game against Oakland on Dec. 30.
SEC opponents have been announced, but the dates and times for those games will come out at a later date.
Arkansas earned its headline win in last season’s ACC/SEC Challenge, beating Duke 80-75 at Bud Walton Arena.
The Hurricanes started last season with high hopes after their Final Four run in 2022, which was coach Jim Larranaga’s second trip to the national semifinal and first since 2006 when he was with George Mason. They faced John Calipari-coached Kentucky in the ACC/SEC Challenge last season, falling 95-73.
Miami dealt with significant injury blows throughout last season that derailed the early promise. Returning guard Matthew Cleveland is the headliner after averaging 13.7 points and 6.1 rebounds in his first season after transferring from Florida State.
The Hurricanes were dealt significant blows in the transfer portal, losing contributors Bensley Joseph, Wooga Poplar and Norchad Omier. They added transfers Brandon Johnson (East Carolina), Lynn Kidd (Virginia Tech), AJ Staton-McCray (Samford) and Jalen Blackmon (Stetson).
Johnson and Blackmon were the go-to men for the Pirates and Hatters, respectively, with the latter scoring 40 points in the Atlantic Sun championship game to send Stetson to its first NCAA Tournament. Kidd saw significant improvements on both sides of the ball before transferring to Miami.
Following former coach Eric Musselman’s departure to Southern Cal, Arkansas lost every scholarship player to the transfer portal or graduations prior to Trevon Brazile’s return to the team.
The Razorbacks, under new coach Calipari, have added eight players — transfers Zvonimir Ivisic (Kentucky), Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee), Johnell Davis (Florida Atlantic), Adou Thiero (Kentucky) and DJ Wagner (Kentucky), and freshmen Karter Knox, Johnuel “Boogie” Fland and Billy Richmond.
