#15/16 Arkansas Gets Hard-Fought Road Win at Oklahoma

January 27, 2026

NORMAN, Okla. – A back-and-forth second half went down to the final minute-and-a-half with #15/16 Arkansas pulling out an 83-79 victory over Oklahoma at the Sooners’ Lloyd Noble Center Tuesday night. Razorback rookies Daius Acuff Jr. (21 points and nine assists) and Meleek Thomas (16 points) combined for 24 second-half points to lead the way.

Oklahoma’s Nigel Pack drained a 3-pointer with 1:27 left that put the Sooners up two (79-77). On the ensuing possession, Acuff went to the line and went 1-of-2 to cut the Razorback deficit to one. Arkansas got a stop on the defensive end and Acuff grabbed the rebound, went coast-to-coast and converted an old-fashion, 3-point play for a 2-point Arkansas lead with 20 seconds left. On Oklahoma’s next possession, Trevon Brazile blocked a shot and Thomas got the rebound. He was fouled and made both free throws with 11 seconds left to seal the win.

Arkansas, which entered the game leading the SEC in 3-point shooting, was just 2-of-17 from deep. However, the Razorbacks out-scored the Sooners, 56-30, in the paint and shot 71.7% (33-of-46) from 2-point range, the program’s sixth-best effort on 2-point attempts.

On the defensive side, Oklahoma was 7-of-16 from 3-point range in the first half but the Hogs limited the Sooners to 3-of-11 beyond the arc in the second half.

In addition to Acuff and Thomas, Arkansas got 12 points from Malique Ewin and 11 points from Karter Knox. Brazile put another solid stat line with seven points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

Pack, who was 6-of-11 from 3PT, finished with a game-high 22 points. Mohamed Wague had 12 rebounds (six on the offensive end).

Arkansas returns to Bud Walton Arena to host Kentucky on Saturday (Jan. 31). Tipoff is set for 5:30 pm (CT) and the game will be televised on ESPN.

FIRST HALF: ARK: 44 – OKLA: 48

Arkansas was down 38-25 with 7:24 left. The Sooners were 5-of-9 from deep to start the game, compared to 0-of-3 for Arkansas, and the Sooners out-rebounded the Hogs, 13-9.
Arkansas went on a 7-0 run to cut its deficit to 38-32 only to see OU’s Nigel Pack make back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Sooners a 44-34 lead.
The Razorbacks answered with a 6-0 run of their own and trailed 46-44 before OU’s Xzayvier Brown made a basket at the buzzer to provide the four-point lead.
Arkansas shot 61.3% from the field, but was just 1-of-7 from 3-point range.
Oklahoma ended up going 7-of-16 from 3-point range,
Pack led Oklahoma with 16 first half points while Derrion Reid had 10 points.
Darius Acuff Jr. led Arkansas with 11 points and added six assists.

SECOND HALF: ARK: 39 – OKLA: 31

There were five ties and 11 lead changes in the second half.
Acuff hit a jumper with 17:40 left to give Arkansas a 51-50 lead, its first lead since 14-13 (13:40 of the first half).
With 7:07 left, Pack hit a 3-pointer to give Oklahoma its largest lead of the second half (68-65). The Sooners also led by three (70-67) with 6:27 left.
Billy Richmond III and Thomas combined for a 4-0 run to give Arkansas a 71-70 lead with 5:25 left.
There were four lead changes inside the final five minutes.
Arkansas shot 50% from the field in the half, holding OU to 36%.
Arkansas out-rebounded the Sooners, 17-16, in the half.
Thomas scored 14 second-half points and Acuff had 10.
Tae David led OU with 10 second-half points.

NOTES:

Arkansas’ starting lineup was Darius Acuff Jr., Meleek Thomas, Karter Knox, Trevon Brazile and Nick Pringle.
Oklahoma’s Mohamed Wague scored the game’s first points at 19:38. Trevon Brazile scored the first points for Arkansas at 18:53.
Arkansas’s first subs were Malique Ewin.
Meleek Thomas had his streak of consecutive games making a 3-pointer stop at 20 games, going 0-of-4 at Oklahoma.
The Arkansas and Oklahoma series includes 33 games dating back to two games on back-to-back days the 1938-39 season. Those two games were played on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21, 1938. Arkansas won the first game, 39-31, and the second, 36-30.
Arkansas owns an 18-15 advantage in the series, but Oklahoma leads, 8-4, in games played in Norman. The Sooners had won three of the last four meetings prior the Hogs win tonight.
This was the teams’ first meeting in Norman since Dec. 10, 2011, a game the Sooners won 78-63,
Coach Calipari now has 893 on-court wins and is 7 shy of reaching 900 wins as head coach of an NCAA Division I program.

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