Mens Basketball Teams Announced for Double Header at Dickies Arena

FORT WORTH – Dickies Arena will host two men’s basketball games on Sunday, Dec. 8 as Texas A&M, TCU, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt will all play in the USLBM Coast to Coast Challenge on Sunday, Dec. 8.

TCU and Vanderbilt will begin the doubleheader at 11:30 a.m. CT and Texas A&M and Texas Tech will follow at 2 p.m. CT. Both games will air on ESPN Networks.

The event precedes another basketball game with the TCU women’s team facing defending national champion South Carolina at 6 p.m. in the USLBM Coast to Coast Challenge featuring the Hoopfest Women’s Basketball Classic.

Texas A&M returns seven of its top eight players in scoring and minutes played from last season’s team that won 21 games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Returning for the Aggies is two-time All-SEC pick Wade Taylor IV. Also returning is the SEC’s top rebounder from 2023-24, Andersson Garcia, who broke the Aggie record for total rebounds in a season. Texas A&M is mentioned in a majority of the “Way-Too-Early” Top 25 rankings,including as high as No. 11 by CBS Sports and The Athletic. Coming off his third-straight 20-win season as the Aggies head coach is Buzz Williams, who enters his sixth season with Texas A&M.

Coming off its third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, TCU returns starting center Ernest Udeh Jr. Among the seven transfers added in the off season are guards Vasean Allette, Frankie Collins, Noah Reynolds and Trazarien White. The Horned Frogs incoming freshman class ranked NO. 20 in ESPN’s latest rankings. Jamie Dixon returns for his ninth season as TCU’s head coach and is 12 wins away from500 for his 21-year career.

Texas Tech is coming off a 23-win season and an NCAA Tournament appearance. The Red Raiders return two starters in All-Big 12 Conference player Darrion Williams and Kerwin Walton. Joining the Also returning is Chance McMillian, who was one of the first off the bench last season. Grant McCasland will begin his second season as the head coach.

Vanderbilt will begin its first year with Mark Byington as its head coach. Byington led James Madison to 32 wins last season including a first-round NCAA Tournament win over Wisconsin. The Commadores brought in 10 transfers during the spring including AJ Hoggard, who averaged 10 points and five assists in each of the past two seasons at Michigan State.

Tickets goon sale to the general public on Friday, Aug. 16 via Ticketmaster.com. Presale begins on Wednesday, Aug. 14.