Hogs' Dance Ends in Sweet 16 Loss to Arizona

March 26, 2026

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Arkansas’ dance in the NCAA Tournament ended in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night inside SAP Center with a 109-88 loss to top-seeded and second-ranked Arizona.

Arkansas, seeded fourth and ranked 14th/15th, ends the season 28-9 after the program’s second-straight trip to the Sweet 16 and fifth over the last six seasons. Overall, Arkansas made its 16th Sweet 16 appearance. The 28 wins for the SEC Tournament Champion Razorbacks mark the most by an SEC team in 2025-26 and the third-most by an Arkansas team since the Hogs joined the SEC.

Razorback head coach John Calipari, who is 61-24 in NCAA Tournament games, advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 17th time in his career, which ties for fifth-most in NCAA history, and he is 12-5 all-time in the Sweet 16 games.

The Wildcats led wire-to-wire thanks to red-hot shooting all night. The team shot 64% from the field for the game, fueled by 60 points in the paint and six different players scoring in double digits. Freshman Koa Peat was impressive, scoring a team-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

While Arizona’s offense was rolling, the Arkansas offense struggled to get on track much of the night. The Razorbacks shot just 22% (5-of-17) from behind the 3-point line for the game.

An up-and-down first half featured 87 total points with Arizona leading, 54-43, with neither team making a run of more than six straight points. The Wildcats came out hot from the field, shooting over 70% for much of the half and finishing 18-for-28 (64%), including 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Arizona took control of the game near the midpoint of the half, pushing its lead to 11 points after an and-1 from Tobe Awaka. The lead climbed to as high as 15 points with just over five minutes remaining in the half but four late points from Darius Acuff Jr. trimmed the lead to 11 at intermission

Foul trouble hindered the Hogs with Malique Ewin picking up two fouls before the first media timeout and eventually getting tagged with his third before halftime. Trevon Brazile, Nick Pringle and DJ Wagner all were charged with a pair of fouls to help the Wildcats shoot 16-of-17 from the free throw line.

In the second half, it was much of the same with Arizona shooting 63.3% from the field while Arkansas was just 3-of-11 from 3-point range.

Acuff, who had 17 second-half points, led all scorers with 28 points, running his single-season school record total to 845. Meleek Thomas added 17 points and Billy Richmond III chipped in 13 before fouling out.

Brayden Burries led Arizona with 23 points and Koa Peat added 21.

FIRST HALF: ARK: 43 – ARIZ: 54

Arizona was hot early, making its first three 3s and shooting 75% from the field.
The Wildcats cooled some and finished shooting 64.3% from the field while Arkansas shot 46.9% and was just 2-of-12 from 3-point.
Arkansas out-rebounded Arizona, 15-14. The Wildcats entered the game 3rd in the NCAA in rebound margin.
Arizona opened up double digit leads, but its best run of the half was just 6-0, twice.
Darius Acuff Jr. led the hogs with 11 points. Meleek Thomas added seven.
Nick Pringle provided a spark, scoring six points with three dunks and a blocked shot.
Ivan Kharchenkov (11 points) and Motiejus Krivas (10 points) led the Wildcats.

SECOND HALF: ARK: 45 – ARIZ: 55

Arizona out-rebounded the Hogs 16-13.
Arkansas forced eight turnovers thanks to five steals.
Burries and Peat both led Arizona with 14 points each,
Arkansas was staying within striking distance most of the second half, trailing by 16 with 9:40 left after a Trevon Brazile 3-pointer. However, Arizona went on an 8-0 run – its largest run of the game – and was able to hold a comfortable lead the rest of the way.

NOTES:

Arkansas’ starting lineup was Darius Acuff Jr., Meleek Thomas, Billy Richmond III, Trevon Brazile and Malique Ewin.
Arizona won the opening tip.
Arizona’s Brayden Burries scored the first points on a layup at 19:45. Darius Acuff Jr. scored the first points for Arkansas with a layup at 18:54.
Nick Pringle was the first sub for Arkansas. It was the second time he was the first sun (since Winthrop) when he entered with Meleek Thomas and Billy Richmond III.
Arkansas leads the all-time series with Arizona, 6-2, including a 3-2 mark on neutral courts. It was the first time the team teams had played since Nov. 17, 1995, a game the Wildcats won in Bud Walton Arena. The last time the teams met in the NCAA Tournament was 1994 in the Final Four, a game Arkansas won en route to the NCAA title.
Coach Cal is 1-2 all-time versus Arizona, splitting games with the Wildcats in 2016 and 2017 while he was at Memphis.
Darius Acuff Jr. set the Arkansas record for points in a season (845), scoring average (23.47) and assists in a season (232). He joins Pete Maravich (LSU) as the only players to lead the SEC in both scoring and assists in the same season. Acuff also led the SEC in assist/turnover ratio (2.97) and minutes played (35.12).
Acuff is also the only player in the NCAA to average 20 points (23.47) and six assists (6.44).
Acuff also ranked 2nd in the SEC in 3-point percentage (44.0%), 7th in field goal percentage (48.4%), 9th in 3-pointers made (2.53) and 15th in free throw percentage (80.9%).
Trevon Brazile is the only Razorback to have at least 40 3-pointers (45), 40 Blocked Shots (58) and 40 Steals (53) in the same season. Brazile is 1 of 2 Razorbacks to have 53 steals (53), 50 blocks (58) and 50 assists (56) in the same season. (Oliver Miller (1990-91): 103 assists • 112 blocks • 55 steals is the other.)
Brazile finishes with 1,029 points as a Razorback – 45th all-time – with 655 rebounds, 139 blocked shots, 105 steals and 101 assists.
Brazile was 4th in the SEC in blocked shots (1.61), 4th in defensive rebounding (5.81), 5th in rebounding (7.33), 11th in steals (1.47)
Arkansas played a record 12 games with the Hogs and their opponent being ranked. Arkansas was 5-7 in such games.
Meleek Thomas tied his career high with four steals.
Thomas had 579 points and shot 41.6% from 3-point range. He led the team with 57 steals and was second on the team in assists (92). He ranked 10th in the SEC in steals (1.54) and 13th in 3-pointers made (2.22).
Malique Ewin ranked 4th in the SEC in offensive rebounds (2.78) and 15th in blocked shots (1.11).
Arkansas closed the season playing its best basketball. After its loss in the Sweet 16:
^ Arkansas won seven of its last eight (including an SEC Tournament title); and 12 of its last 15.
^ After a 6-3 January, Arkansas was 5-2 in February and is 7-1 in March.
^ In Cal’s two years at Arkansas, the Hogs are 22-9 in February and March.
^ Cal’s teams over his career have 184 wins in March and April (184-64 — 74%)

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