PORTLAND, Ore. — Arkansas basketball is sticking around in the Pacific Northwest.

In order to clinch a berth in the Sweet 16 for a second consecutive season, the Hogs must take down an underdog brimming with confidence.

The No. 4 Razorbacks (27-8) knocked off No. 13 Hawaii 97-78 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 19. Arkansas began the game with an 11-0 run and never looked back, leading for 39:38 of a 40-minute contest.

Their next opponent is No. 12 High Point (30-4), who kickstarted the beautiful disruption of March Madness with an 83-82 victory over No. 5 Wisconsin just before the Hogs took the floor inside the Moda Center. Razorbacks coach John Calipari knows his team is in for a stiff test against a talented mid-major opponent.

“I’ll be walking the streets of Portland tonight enjoying this, but I’ve got three tapes that I got to watch of High Point,” Calipari said. “They’re good. Wisconsin found out they are good, and they’re not afraid.”

There might not be a hotter team in the country than the Panthers. They’re riding a 15-game winning streak into Saturday’s matchup, and coach Flynn Clayman delivered a fiery, confident statement after High Point stunned the Badgers.

“Looks pretty obvious to me that high-majors need to play mid-majors early in the season. Because they said we didn’t play nobody. We played somebody now,” Clayman told CBS Sports.

Calipari admitted he does have some familiarity with the High Point roster. Fifth-year senior Cam’Ron Fletcher began his career at Kentucky for the 2020-21 season before transferring to Florida State. There was a pit stop at Xavier, and now Fletcher is averaging 12.7 points and 6.9 rebounds with the Panthers.

The Panthers are led by a a pair of seniors in explosive wing Terry Anderson and veteran point guard Rob Martin. Anderson (16 ppg) has nine games this season with at least 20 points, while Martin (15.3 ppg) boasts an assist-to-turnover ratio better than 2-to-1.

After the Arkansas win, freshman point guard Darius Acuff Jr. said he didn’t pay attention to High Point’s upset against Wisconsin.

The SEC Player of the Year was following instructions from his Hall of Fame coach.

“I’ve been telling these guys, ‘You’re going to look and you’re worried about somebody in front of you, and they get beat. Then you’re playing somebody else,’” Calipari said. “That’s why you don’t even need to watch games. Just stay in the moment. Let’s stay in the five-minute segments. Let’s stay locked in.”

Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@usatodayco.com or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

March Madness is underway and today’s college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer’s NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY’s latest mock draft, Arkansas’s Darius Acuff Jr.  is expected to go in the first round.

Here’s how USA TODAY currently projects the guard’s draft night will play out.

Darius Acuff Jr. 2026 NBA Draft prediction: Pick No. 6 overall, Dallas Mavericks

All picks based on Tankathon lottery projection

Kalbrosky’s Analysis:

Now led by Cooper Flagg, the Mavericks need to find players who can help Dallas stay competitive on offense and Arkansas freshman Darius Acuff Jr. can do exactly that. The SEC Player of the Year is excellently efficient at operating ball screens or in isolation. He leads freshmen for points created per 40 minutes (43.1) either by himself or through an assist, per CBB Analytics. He can score well from either side of the court and is among the freshmen leaders in both alley-oop assists (15) and field goals made in transition (62) this season. There is a reason rival coach Sean Miller thinks this generational guard should have his name in the mix at No. 1 overall.

See USA TODAY’s full mock draft here

Darius Acuff Jr. player profile

(all stats as of March 15)

• Position: Guard
• Current Team: Arkansas
• 22.9 points per game
• 3.2 rebounds per game
• 6.5 assists per game
• 48.6% field goal percentage
• 44.5% three-point field goal percentage

Dallas Mavericks 2026 projected draft picks

• No. 6, No. 30 (via OKC) and No. 50 (via PHX)

All picks based on Tankathon lottery projection