Early tip on Saturday 12:47 p.m.

FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas men’s basketball team must rebound from a tough loss on Thursday evening in just 40 hours to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday afternoon at Bud Walton Arena beginning at 12:47 p.m. The Razorbacks’ and Crimson Tide’s game will be broadcast regionally on the SEC Network and the game is the first for the Razorbacks on the conference’s broadcasting system.

Arkansas (7-9, 0-1 SEC) fought back from a 19-point deficit at Mississippi State on Thursday night to get within a basket, only to fall to the Bulldogs in its conference opener, 82-80. The Razorbacks could have packed it in early against the Bulldogs as they quickly fell behind, but clawed their way back into the game in the second half and gave the SEC West leading Mississippi State team everything it could handle.

Marshwan Powell opened his Southeastern Conference career with 25 points and eight rebounds including 21 in the final 20 minutes of play while Courtney Fortson tallied 20 points in the loss. In two games this season Fortson has moved into the scoring lead on the Razorback roster with 19.5 points per game. He has also dished 12 assists and grabbed nine rebounds since taking the court for the first time this season on Jan. 5.

Alabama (11-5, 1-1 SEC) has had an extra 24 hours to recuperate after dropping to 1-1 in conference play on a 65-64 loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores. The Crimson Tide had an opportunity in the final moments to pick up a second SEC win but it was not in the cards. Alabama is led by Mikhail Torrance who is averaging 16.0 points and 3.6 rebounds while also leading the squad in assists. With the guard is 6-9 JaMychal Green who sits at 15.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game including 35 blocked shots.

The Arkansas-Alabama game will be broadcast regionally on the SEC Network with Dave LaMont and Joe Dean calling the action. The contest can also be heard on radio across the state of Arkansas on the Razorback Sports Network with Mike Nail and Rick Schaeffer giving the calls. Nail is in his 29th and final season as the play-by-play voice of the Razorbacks.

Looking past the Alabama contest, Arkansas will host the Florida Gators at Bud Walton Arena on Jan. 21 in the first of another Thursday-Saturday schedule for the Hogs. The Razorbacks and Gators will air on ESPN.