NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Sun Belt Conference has announced the league's conference schedule for the 2020-21 season, including the 18-game slate for Little Rock as the Trojans seek to defend their 2019-20 Sun Belt title.
2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule
"This will be a challenging schedule for us in a very competitive league," said head coach
Darrell Walker. "We'll have to be ready night-in and night-out and our players understand they are going to get our opponent's best every time out."
Little Rock will be tested early as five of the first seven games of the season will be on the road in tough environments. The conference slate will begin over New Year's in Texas, beginning at Texas State on Thursday, Dec. 31, before taking on UT Arlington on Sat., January 7.
The Trojans' first home conference games will be the following week against the Carolina duo, beginning with Coastal Carolina on Thursday, Jan. 7 before facing Appalachian State on Saturday, Jan. 9.
Another challenging road trip then awaits the Trojans who will have to play three games in five days. The trip begins with a trip to Georgia, taking on Georgia Southern in Statesboro on Thursday, Jan. 14, followed by a showdown with Georgia State in Atlanta on Saturday, Jan. 16. Little Rock then goes directly to Jonesboro for the first of the two rivalry showdowns against Arkansas State on Monday, Jan. 18 as part of a league-wide rivalry showcase on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The Texas schools then make the return trip to the Jack Stephens Center, beginning with Texas State on Thursday, Jan. 21 and UT Arlington on Saturday, Jan. 23 to close out the first half of the conference slate.
Little Rock closes out the month of January in Louisiana, facing ULM in Monroe on Thursday, Jan. 28 before venturing south to Lafayette for the meeting with the Ragin' Cajuns on Saturday, Jan. 30.
February will feature a favorable home stretch for Little Rock as the Trojans close out the regular season with five of their last seven games at the Jack Stephens Center. That stretch begins with the lone games of the season against the Alabama opponents, hosting Troy on Thursday, Feb. 4 before the showdown with South Alabama on Saturday, Feb. 6.
Part two of the rivalry showdown against Arkansas State will take place on Saturday, Feb. 13 when the Trojans and Red Wolves tangle in Little Rock. The game will be the second matchup of a men's-women's doubleheader against A-State, the only doubleheader date of the season for Little Rock.
The final road trip of the regular season takes the Trojans east to the Carolinas, starting in Conway, S.C. against Coastal Carolina on Thursday, Feb. 18. Little Rock then ventures up to Boone, N.C. for a meeting at Appalachian State on Saturday, Feb. 20.
The 2020-21 regular season concludes at home for Little Rock against the Louisiana's, starting with ULM on Thursday, Feb. 25 and wrapping up against Louisiana on Saturday, Feb. 27.
Little Rock will then join the other 11 league teams in Pensacola, Florida for the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Tournament, being held Friday, March 5 through Monday March 8. The new host of the league championship tournament will be held in a pair of sites in Pensacola with the semifinal and final games held at the Bay Center Arena.
In addition to the 18 conference games, teams are permitted to schedule non-conference games between November 25 and December 30. Little Rock is currently working to build a non-conference schedule, which will be released once agreements have been reached.
Similar to last season, weeknight games will tip at 6:30 p.m. with Saturday games tipping at 2 p.m. The lone exception to that will be the Feb. 13 doubleheader against Arkansas State when the Trojan women will tip at 2 p.m. followed by the Trojan men at 4:30 p.m.
Season tickets for the 2020-21 Little Rock basketball season are now on sale by calling the Trojan ticket office at 501-565-8257. Due to COVID social distancing regulations, seating capacity at the Jack Stephens Center will be much more limited than in years' past, and fans are encouraged to purchase season tickets to ensure seats at Little Rock home games this season.
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