Hawaii takes on elite Arkansas team in today’s NCAA opener | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

PORTLAND, Ore. >> It will be a clash of polar opposites today in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region in the Moda Center.

Arkansas is champion of the nation’s best college basketball conference. The SEC received 10 of the 68 berths in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

For the last time, Hawaii is representing the one-bid Big West. The Rainbow Warriors leave for the Mountain West on July 1.

According to Pete Nakos of On3.com, the Razorbacks had up to $10 million to spend on their roster. With fundraisers and sofa searches, the ’Bows’ are believed to have a $1.2 million roster.

Freshman point guard Darius Acuff Jr., the SEC’s Player of the Year, was a 5-star prospect and McDonald’s All-American as a high school senior. UH’s best player, 7-foot center Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson, was an Eagle Scout.

Per The Sporting News, Arkansas is paying Hall of Fame coach John Calipari $8.5 million per year on a five-year contract he signed in 2025. UH’s Eran Ganot has a month remaining on a contract that pays $330,000 annually.

Calipari led Kentucky to the Final Four four times and UMass twice. This is the ’Bows’ first NCAA appearance since 2016, Ganot’s first season as UH head coach.

So, why are the ’Bows not blinking?

“Hawaii hasn’t been here in 10 years,” captain Harry Rouhliadeff said. “For us to bring this school, like, to the big stage in college basketball means everything to us. We’re not going to go out without a fight. We’re going to keep playing the same way for 40 minutes. It’s the testament of our team. We’ve got a lot of guys that don’t quit, really stick it out.”

Point guard Hunter Erickson noted the ’Bows were steeled knowing there was only one path to an NCAA berth. No matter their record, the 24-8 ’Bows were not going to receive an at-large berth.

“Being a mid-major, the route we have to take is tougher than what high-major programs have,” Erickson said. “No matter how we play during the year, we have to come out and win the conference tournament. I think the journey we have here is harder. That’s something we can hang our hat on.”

At Kentucky, Calipari mastered the tactic of employing one-and-done players. At Arkansas, Calipari did not hesitate in entrusting his offensive juggernaut to freshmen Acuff and Maleek Thomas.

“I’ve started five freshmen one year (at Kentucky), and we got to a Final Four, as a matter of fact, a final game,” Calipari said. “This year, we’re starting two freshmen. We’re going to play the best players.”

Acuff is second nationally in scoring at 22.9 per game while averaging 6.5 assists. Thomas is averaging 15.4 points. While both prefer to attack the rim off ball screens or ankle-breaking handles, they can hit 3s when needed — 43.7% for Acuff, 42.5% for Thomas.

That leaves defenders in multiple-choice options. UH posts Johnson, Rouhliadeff and Gytis Nemeiksa have to move laterally on help defense to challenge drives without fouling and deter 6-10 Trevon Brazile from sneaking across the backside for lobs. Brazile, who has a 42 1/2-inch vertical jump, averages 7.3 rebounds.

“Know where (Brazile) is on the floor, not let him get free lanes,” Johnson said. “He’s an amazing player. He’s got some crazy highlights. We’re going to do our best to limit that and not get frazzled by his verticality and the type of athlete that he is. Two points is two points at the end of the day.”

The Razorbacks average 90.1. points on 50% shooting. They are second nationally with 19.1 fastbreak points per game while allowing an average of 9.7. They lead the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio of plus-1.89.

The Razorbacks’ only meh quality is on the boards. They rank 241st out of 365 Division I teams with a defensive rebounding efficiency of 79.3%. The ’Bows are 11th at 77.2%. UH also limits opposing 3-point shooters to 30.4% accuracy. The ’Bows have made more orbits around the sun (average age was 23 years, three months when the season started).

Asked to name a team asset, Johnson said, “the maturity level of our guys. One of the things not taken into account is there’s a reason NBA teams pay to keep veterans around even if they’re not super performing on the court.”

UH wing Quandre “Dre” Bullock said: “I feel our experience is going to be to our advantage. Arkansas’ got a lot of good players, but most of them are freshmen and sophomores, a lot of young guys. Our guys are a lot older, a lot of experience.”

Calipari said the Razorbacks have played against older teams.

“It’s harder,” he said. “They’ve been through the wars. There’s things that they have experienced that an 18-year-old has not experienced. … Part of it is the NCAA Tournament because this is different. This is one game. You play bad, you lose.”

Last June, combo guard Isaiah Kerr transferred to UH from Division II Chico State. This was his first opportunity to contend for an NCAA Division I berth.

“I’ve been working for this moment, I guess, for a lot of my basketball career,” Kerr said. “I’m finally in it. Everyone on our team lives for moments like this. You can’t go into it with the mindset of, ‘Oh, we’re a lower seed so it’s going to be harder.’ We go in with ‘once that ball tips up, we’re just playing basketball, which we’ve done our whole lives. It’s a great opportunity to play against Acuff. It’s a great challenge. I’m excited.”

[Image of NCAA March Madness Bracket]