Top-seed Arizona had an easy time of it Thursday night defeating No. 4-seed Arkansas 109-88 in the Sweet 16 in San Jose, Calif.
The Razorbacks never held the lead in the game with the only tie being 2-2. Arkansas' defense wasn't there and neither was the 3-point shooting. The Razorbacks knew to have a chance they would have to play good defense and hit from distance. Arkansas ended up shooting 22% (5-23) from deep. Arizona made the same number of 3-point shots, but only took eight for 53%. John Calipari complimented Arizona afterward.
"Arizona is really good," Calipari said. "I told my team after I was proud of them. That was a hard one."
Darius Acuff Jr. scored 28 points to lead the Razorbacks, but was only 8 of 19 from the field and hit one 3-pointer in five attempts. Acuff did hit 11 of 14 from the free throw line. He also added three rebounds and a trio of assists.
"He was the ultimate competitor and had a will to win," Calipari said.
Acuff had what most have called the best single season of any Razorback. The freshman praised his teammates after the game.
"The brotherhood," Acuff said. "It was a great year."
Arizona placed six players in double figures topped by Brayden Burries with 23 and had five rebounds. The Wildcats shot 64% from the field. Arizona also shot 39 free throws, making 30, to 26 attempts for Arkansas. The Razorbacks did make 21 free throws for 81%.
The Wildcats only held a 54-43 advantage at halftime, but built the lead to as much as 25 points, 104-79, with 4:17 remaining in the game. Arizona Coach Tommy Lloyd expected his team to be successful against the Razorbacks.
"When I was watching film, I thought we could have a lot of success against them," Lloyd said.
Koa Peat added 21 points, Ivan Kharchenkov 15 and five assists, Motiejus Kravos 14, five rebounds and two blocks, Jaden Bradley 14, four rebounds and five assists while Tobe Awaka added 14 points and seven boards.
Meleek Thomas finished with 17 points, four rebounds and four steals for the Hogs. Billy Richmond III added 13 points, five rebounds and three assists before being ejected for a very questionable Flagrant 2. Malique Ewin finished with eight points, five rebounds and three blocks. Trevon Brazile and D.J. Wagner had seven points each with Brazile pulling down six boards. Nick Pringle added six points before fouling out in his lone game in the NCAA Tournament. Isaiah Sealy had two points as well.
Florida (35-2) will now advance to the Elite 8 where they will face Purdue, a 79-77 winner over Texas earlier Thursday. Arkansas (28-9) will now turn its attention to recruiting from the transfer portal and Calipari trying to retain as many players as possible.
