All-District honors

Arkansas sophomore forward Daniel Gafford and freshman guard Isaiah Joe, and Arkansas State University senior guard Ty Cockfield made the 10-man All-District VII team voted on by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. The district represents Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.

Gafford, from El Dorado, is averaging 17.0 points and an SEC-leading 8.7 rebounds. Joe, from Fort Smith, is averaging 14.0 points and has hit an Arkansas record 106 threepoint baskets this season. Cockfield, from Gainesville, Ga., is averaging 22.4 points to lead the Sun Belt Conference.

Texas Tech Coach Chris Beard — who led the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to a 30-6 record and the 2016 Sun Belt regular-season and tournament championships before beating Purdue in the NCAA Tournament — was voted the District VII coach of the year.

The Red Raiders are ranked No. 7 in The Associated Press poll and are 26-5, including a 6764 victory at home over Arkansas. They were picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 in a preseason poll, but shared the conference championship with Kansas State at 14-4.

Beard led Texas Tech to its first conference championship since 1996, when James Dickey — a Valley Springs native who was a player and assistant at the University of Central Arkansas, and an Arkansas assistant for Eddie Sutton — was the Red Raiders’ coach. The Red Raiders won the 1996 Southwest Conference championship with a 14-0 record and finished 30-2 overall.