Hogs’ Dance Ends in Sweet 16 Loss to Arizona

SAN JOSE, California – 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.

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