Images are emerging of Arkansas-Little Rock’s destroyed basketball court after it was DESTROYED by a burst pipe due to freezing -20F temperatures in the Deep South last week
The University of Arkansas men’s and women’s basketball teams at Little Rock will play their conference openings from their homes after water damage destroyed their court.
Pictures from the university show floorboards torn out of wet concrete at the 5,600-capacity Jack Stephens Center on the university campus
In a statement to , UALR’s sports department said the damage occurred sometime in the early hours of the morning between December 22 and 23.
Before and after images of the damage at Joe Foley Court at the Jack Stephens Center
That night, a bomb cyclone sent temperatures well below freezing in most parts of the United States — including in the Deep South, where air temperatures in Little Rock dropped as low as -17°C (1°F).
The statement added that wind chill temperatures had dropped to -28C (-20F) that night. The average December high temperature in Little Rock is 11°C (53°F) and the average low is 1°C (34°F).
Sometime on the morning of December 23, basketball players coming in for a shootaround found the court soaked.
Arkansas-Little Rock will be moving its upcoming games to a larger arena north of campus
“Freezing temperatures in the Little Rock area over the past few days caused a water snake to rupture at the Jack Stephens Center, resulting in the Joe Foley Court becoming flooded,” the university press release said.
The Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans men’s and women’s basketball teams were scheduled to open Thursday night’s Ohio Valley Conference game with a double-header from the University of Tennessee teams in Martin.
Those games are now slated to be played at Simmons Bank Arena — an 18,000-seat arena about seven miles away in North Little Rock.
UALR men’s basketball coach Darrell Walker assessed the damage and found some humor
As for the Stephens Center, crews are reportedly allowing the concrete to continue drying in the coming days and ripping up the floor.
“As far as I know, the plan is for UALR to find a temporary place that he can borrow for the rest of the season.” tweeted Mitchell Gladstonea sports reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, who added, “It’s still unclear where the court will come from.”
The Trojans men’s team currently has a record of 4-9, while the women’s team has a record of 3-8.