Arkansas

Arkansas holds off UAB’s upset bid for 37-27 victory

Published

2 years ago

September 14, 2024

Arkansas holds off UAB’s upset bid for 37-27 victory

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Ja’Quinden Jackson ran for 147 yards and a touchdown and Taylen Green picked up 96 yards on the ground with two scores as Arkansas beat Alabama-Birmingham 37-27 on Saturday.

Jackson’s score, a 16-yard dash early in the third quarter, broke a 20-all tie to give Arkansas (2-1) its first lead. UAB had little answer for him whenever he ran the ball as his yardage total came on just 15 carries.

Green, Arkansas’ starting quarterback, countered his sub-par throwing day with his rushing results. He tied the game at 17 in the third quarter on a 14-yard touchdown and provided a 9-yard insurance touchdown with 3:38 left after Arkansas had taken a three-point lead. In the air, he was just 11 of 26 for 161 yards with an interception.

The Blazers (1-2) led 17-3 early in the second quarter, having scored on their first three drives. The second drive needed to go only 15 yards after Green was intercepted in his own red zone. Jared Zeno, who threw three touchdown passes for UAB, found Kam Shanks for a 15-yard score to put Arkansas down by a touchdown before Zeno connected with Amare Thomas for a 34-yard score on the next drive to make it a two-score game.

Arkansas scored five of the next six times as Braylen Russell added a rushing touchdown and Kyle Ramsey made two field goals to provide the Razorbacks with a 30-20 lead in the fourth quarter. Zeno found Dallas Payne for his third touchdown of the game midway through the fourth before Green led the 7-play, 75-yard drive that ultimately proved the game-changer.

Jackson, a Utah transfer, became the first Arkansas player with 100-yard games in each of his first three in a Razorbacks uniform since Alex Collins in 2015. Collins, Arkansas’ second-leading rusher in school history, died last year in a motorcycle wreck. He was honored during the game along with other members of the 2024 Arkansas Hall of Honor.

Big picture

UAB is likely neither as bad as the team that lost to Louisiana-Monroe in Week 2 by 26 points nor as good as the team that lost to Arkansas by 10 on Saturday. The Blazers’ ride in the AAC could be just as chaotic.

Arkansas wasn’t especially impressive, but after last year’s 4-8 season and last week’s double-overtime loss to Oklahoma State, putting a team away in a close game is a large step forward.

Up next

UAB hosts Navy in AAC play on Saturday.

Arkansas travels to Auburn to open the SEC schedule on Saturday.

The Associated Press contributed to this story

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Arkansas

Arkansas Razorbacks play the High Point Panthers in second round

Published

10 hours ago

March 20, 2026

Press Room

Arkansas Razorbacks play the High Point Panthers in second round

High Point Panthers (31-4, 18-1 Big South) vs. Arkansas Razorbacks (27-8, 16-5 SEC)

Portland, Oregon; Saturday, 9:45 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Razorbacks -11.5; over/under is 168.5

BOTTOM LINE: No. 14 Arkansas takes on High Point in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Razorbacks’ record in SEC play is 16-5, and their record is 11-3 against non-conference opponents. Arkansas has a 25-8 record against teams above .500.

The Panthers are 18-1 in Big South play. High Point ranks fifth in the Big South with 23.0 defensive rebounds per game led by Cam’Ron Fletcher averaging 5.3.

Arkansas’ average of 8.2 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.7 more made shots on average than the 7.5 per game High Point gives up. High Point scores 9.8 more points per game (89.8) than Arkansas gives up (80.0).

TOP PERFORMERS: Darius Acuff Jr. is shooting 48.6% and averaging 23.0 points for the Razorbacks. Meleek Thomas is averaging 16.7 points over the last 10 games.

Terry Anderson is averaging 16 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals for the Panthers. Chase Johnston is averaging 1.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Razorbacks: 8-2, averaging 93.6 points, 33.6 rebounds, 17.2 assists, 7.1 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 49.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 88.9 points per game.

Panthers: 10-0, averaging 86.5 points, 34.3 rebounds, 15.3 assists, 9.2 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 45.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.0 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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What Arkansas basketball’s John Calipari said about facing High Point in March Madness

Published

22 hours ago

March 19, 2026

Press Room

What Arkansas basketball’s John Calipari said about facing High Point in March Madness

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.

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Darius Acuff Jr. NBA mock draft projection: Where Arkansas star is expected to land

Published

1 day ago

March 19, 2026

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Darius Acuff Jr. NBA mock draft projection: Where Arkansas star is expected to land

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