PORTLAND, Ore. — Making it to the Sweet 16 last season was surprising and exciting.
The Arkansas basketball team hopes to extend its trip to March Madness for another weekend this year.
The fourth-ranked Razorbacks (26-8) will face No. 13 Hawaii (24-8) in the NCAA tournament on Thursday, March 19. The Hogs’ goal is to reach the Final Four, and that’s one reason the Hogs are on the biggest stage in the sport.
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John Calipari’s team has a closer. He also happens to be one of the best players in the game, and Arkansas lacks the late-game talent that Darius Acuff Jr. provided in last year’s playoffs.
“(Acuff) has an otherworldly confidence that he can play,” Calipari said during the SEC Championship Game. “To do that, you can’t be afraid of not making the play. It doesn’t mean anything. If you miss it, I’ll make the next one.”
Arkansas led by as many as 16 points in the second half of its 2025 Sweet 16 loss to Texas Tech. The Red Raiders came back with great shooting, but the Hogs’ own offense wasn’t creative enough. The final game of the regular season was a microcosm of the problem, as DJ Wagner went one-on-one but settled for a difficult mid-range jumper.
Before taking on Texas Tech, Arkansas led by 13 points in the second half against St. John’s but still had to withstand a furious rally to win its second-round game. Big leads were a common theme at the end of Calipari’s first season in Fayetteville.
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A similar offensive scrimmage is unlikely to happen in this season’s NCAA tournament game. Acav showed his clutch DNA in the SEC Championship Game. He averaged a point per minute in the final five minutes of the Hogs’ three wins. He finished with 11:30 to beat Vanderbilt to win the championship and was named the SEC Tournament MVP.
“He’s a confident guy,” Nick Pringle said of Acuff. “Coach (Calipari) always preaches how he wants to get the ball in his hands because he always makes the right play. Not a lot of guys can score 30 points and 11 assists at the same time. It’s different for players.”
Acuff attributes his critical success to a simple mindset.
“I really just say try to win, no matter what,” Acuff said. “That’s certainly winning time. Always making the right plays, that’s important to me. Whatever I need to do for our team to win, whether it’s me passing the ball, shooting the ball or making stops, you know, I’m going to do it.”
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If it continues to dominate the winning time over the next three weeks, all Arkansas needs to do is go into the final media timeout. Akaf will take them home.
The Razorbacks hope he can lead them to the Final Four.
Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times, a USA TODAY Network affiliate. Please contact or follow him at jfuller@usatodayco.com @JacksonFuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared in the Fort Smith Times Record: Darius Acuff Jr.’s late-game performance gives Arkansas basketball advantage