Arkansas

Missouri basketball at Arkansas: Prediction, scouting report

Published

2 years ago

February 23, 2024

Missouri basketball at Arkansas: Prediction, scouting report

For Missouri basketball, a victory on Saturday would be sweet, as it would be its first victory in the Southeastern Conference and redemption over an old rival.

The Tigers (8-18, 0-13) will take on Arkansas (13-13, 4-9) at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. The teams previously faced off on Jan. 31 at Mizzou Arena, where the Razorbacks, from start to finish, dominated the Tigers in a 91-84 victory, leading by as much as 23.

More: 4 things that will be at the top of the new Missouri athletic director’s to-do list

More: Why did Desiree Reed-Franocis leave Missouri AD job for Arizona? ‘Opportunity to come home’

On Tuesday, Missouri led and kept it close against No. 5 Tennessee before falling 72-67 for its 13th consecutive loss in the SEC.

Since playing the Tigers, Arkansas is 2-3 in February. The Razorbacks, led by head coach Eric Musselman, defeated Georgia but also fell to LSU, Tennessee, and Mississippi State. Most recently, Arkansas won 78-71 at Texas A&M on Tuesday.

Ahead of Saturday’s matchup (11 a.m., ESPN2), here are three things to keep an eye out for as the Tigers seek their first league victory against Arkansas.

Mabor Majak vs. Mekhi Mitchell

If Missouri wants to come away victorious on Saturday, it can’t let Makhi Mitchell flourish again. In the previous matchup, the 6-foot-10 forward scored a season-high 19 points against the Tigers. Since then, he’s topped that mark twice, each in the past two games, tallying 21 and 22 points at Mississippi State and Texas A&M.

Protecting inside the arc will be a big test for the Tigers, and Dennis Gates will likely have to depend on center Mabor Majak. The 7-foot-2 post player from Juba, South Sudan, played a season-high 22 minutes against Tennessee, recording four defensive rebounds.

“He’s very unselfish,” Dennis Gates said. “He’s given his body, he’s given whatever it is. It’s not even about offense. He’s out there fighting and giving us the emotional boost that most leaders do. He can do it silently, he can do it through action, and it can be the smallest things that stand out. He’s very connected to all of his teammates.”

Sean East II’s hot streak is key this time around against the Razorbacks

Fueling Missouri’s fight in its previous two games has been a resurgence of Sean East II. The graduate point guard has tallied 49 combined points and generated 23 attempts at the free throw line.

East scored just 11 points in the Tigers first matchup against Arkansas before suffering a knee contusion at Vanderbilt, forcing him to miss the following two games, which MU lost by a combined 43 points. The Tigers can’t afford a no-show from their best scorer, and the past week has shown that he isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

Can Missouri keep its focused on defense?

Arkansas’ 91 points on Jan. 31 is the second-most allowed by Missouri in SEC play.

Fast forward to Tuesday, and Missouri forced a top-50 scoring offense in Tennessee to miss its first 11 shots. The Volunteers’ offensive efficiency rating heading into their matchup with the Tigers ranked 16th in the nation according to KenPom.com.

“We said if our offense wasn’t there, that the defense had to pick up, it’s got to multiply. If we weren’t making shots, we weren’t going to let them make shots,” Missouri’s Noah Carter said Tuesday. “And that’s kind of what our mindset was, and it wasn’t expected to go that long. I think the score was 2-1 at the first media [timeout] and a little bit after that, but it was about getting our defense together, and if we’re not scoring, we can’t let them score.”

The Razorbacks’ offensive efficiency rating ranks 129th in the nation at 108.7. Remaining aggressive and dialed in on the defensive end is something worth watching.

Score Prediction

Arkansas 73, Missouri 67: Missouri has played better since the last time it faced the Razorbacks with inspiring efforts against Mississippi and Tennessee. But the Tigers are just 2-14 all-time at Bud Walton Arena and haven’t won in the opposing gym since Nov. 28.

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Arkansas

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

Published

9 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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Arkansas

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

Published

21 hours ago

March 19, 2026

Press Room

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

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

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Arkansas

NCAA Tournament Rd1 Preview: Arkansas vs Hawai’i

Published

1 day ago

March 18, 2026

Press Room

NCAA Tournament Rd1 Preview: Arkansas vs Hawai’i

Who: #14/15 (#4 seed) Arkansas Razorbacks (26-8) vs (#13 seed) Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (24-8)
What: Arkansas is 20-8 all-time in NCAA opening-round games.
When: Thursday – Mar. 19 – approximately 1:25 pm (PT) / 3:25 pm (CT)
Where: Portland, Ore. • Moda Center (19,393)
How (to follow):
– TV/Stream: TBS / NCAA Stream (Brad Nessler, Wally Szczerbiak and Jared Greenberg)
– Radio: Learfield Razorback Sports Network (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)
– Westwood One (Ryan Radtke & Austin Croshere)
– Westwood One on Sirius/XM: 211 or 204 || SXM App/Online Channel 966

– Arkansas-Hawai’I Game Information
– Arkansas Game Notes
– Vanderbilt Game Notes
– SEC Men’s Basketball Release/Stats

PORTLAND, Ore. – Arkansas, the #4 seed in the West Regional, will face #13 seed Hawai’i in the opening round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Thursday (Mar. 19) in Portland, Ore. (Moda Center). The game is scheduled to start at approximately 1:25 pm (PT) / 3:25 pm (CT) – following the Wisconsin-High Point game – and will be televised on TBS.

Arkansas earned its 38th all-time NCAA berth and is playing in its fifth Tournament in a six-year span. The Razorbacks are coming off a three-game run to win the 2026 SEC Championship.

Arkansas is 52-36 (.591) in its 37th appearance (*also earned bid in 1944 but could not play) and is 20-8 all-time in first-round matchups. Razorback head coach John Calipari is 59-23 (.720) in his 25th NCAA Tournament appearance. He is 21-3 all-time in NCAA first-round games. He is 5-2 all-time as a #4 seed and 4-0 all-time versus a #13 seed.

The Arkansas-Hawai’I winner will face the winner of #5 seed Wisconsin and #12 seed High Point on Saturday. Time and TV to be announced.

NOTES:

Arkansas is 2-0 all-time versus Hawai’i. The team met twice in the 1977-78 season, playing on back-to-back days on Dec. 1 and 2. The Hogs won game one, 78-53, and game two, 79-60.
Arkansas is 2-1 all-time in Portland (and the Moda Center). The Razorbacks played in the 2017 PK80 Phil Knight Invitational in November of 2017. Arkansas beat Oklahoma, lost to North Carolina and beat UConn.
Arkansas has won five straight, 10 of its last 12 and 13 of its last 15.
^ After a 6-3 January, Arkansas was 5-2 in February and is 5-0 in March.
^ In Cal’s two years at Arkansas, the Hogs are 20-8 in February and March.
Getting hot in March is nothing new for Coach Cal’s teams during his career.
^ 62 Wins in Conference Tourneys (62-17 — 78.5%)
^ 59 Wins in the NCAA Tourney (59-23 — 72.0%)
^ 136 Postseason Wins (136-46 — 74.7%) — Including Conf Tourneys, NIT & NCAA
^ 182 Wins (all games) in March and April (182-63 — 74.2%)

For more information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on X, Instagram and Facebook.

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