No. 4 seed Arkansas jumped out to an 11-0 lead against Hawai'i and never trailed on its way to a 97-78 victory in the West Regional at Portland.
Hawai'i didn't score until Dre Bullock made a field goal with 15:53 remaining in the first half. The Razorbacks kept extending the lead and was up 54-36 at halftime. With High Point upsetting Wisconsin in the game prior to the Razorbacks playing John Calipari was pleased to see his team come out on fire.
"What I was most happy with, we end up with 26 assists," Calipari said. "We passed the ball to each other, we created shots for each other. Makes us pretty good. The start of the game we talked about it. We've been talking about it for the last month. First five minutes. Now, the first five minutes could be 15-15, but you were ready to play, and the other team played well, too.
"Today they missed some shots, then they started making shots. You got to give them credit. They did not quit. Hawaii just kept playing. All of a sudden I'm looking up, it's 15. Then we make a play or two."
The Razorbacks shot 54% (39-72) from the field, but struggled from distance. Arkansas made only four of its 21 attempts (19%) from behind the 3-point line. But they did knock down 15 of 17 attempts from the free throw line. Darius Acuff topped the Hogs again with 24 points and seven assists. His freshman running mate at guard Meleek Thomas had 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Acuff broke the school record for assists in one season formerly held by Kareem Reid. He is five points away from breaking Todd Day's scoring record for a season.
But Trevon Brazile and Malique Ewin punished the Rainbow Warriors inside the entire game. Ewin got extended time, 31 minutes, since Calipari didn't play Nick Pringle who was injured, but could be available on Saturday. Brazile had 19 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Ewin was all over the court finishing with 16 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two steals.
"These two, Malique Ewin is showing he's basically telling on himself of this is how good I am," Calipari said. "The way he chased down balls with unbelievable energy. Then you saw TB. The great news is, you saw him when he wasn't making shots. How did he look? He didn't make shots. You're looking at him like, Holy cow.
"That's what I just keep trying to tell them. If you make them, great. If you don't, do all the other things you do. That was a good start for us. Always worried about the first game. Hard game for everybody playing."
Ewin talked about his assists and reflected back on how he used to play a different position than center.
"Yeah, I played guard," Ewin said. "I like to assist more. That's what I did tonight. Got it done."
Brazile credited the success of this team with how everyone is sharing the ball and like each other.
"I just think our team has a lot of chemistry," Brazile said. "Obviously we got great guard play. We got Nick, Billy (Richmond III) will play some four sometimes. Like I said, we all got good chemistry with each other."
Calipari continued to sing the praises of Brazile and Ewin as well as the remainder of his team.
"No, this team is one of the -- I've had some really fast teams," Calipari said. "This team is right there, fast. We're long and we're athletic. It's what we are.
"But we're also skilled because we don't turn it over that much because we are skilled. This is a good group. What I said after to Malique, what I'm always trying to do is get guys to break through. The battle they have is with themselves, it's no one else. When they win that battle, you can see it in how they play.
"Malique busted through here the last week or two. He's setting himself and our team up for the rest of his basketball career on the things he's doing: making free throws, grabbing balls, great hands. Today he had six assists. He had six assists. He did have three turnovers, but... He had six assists. I mean, he's doing a little bit of everything."
Brazile was the only returning player when Calipari came to Arkansas last year. Brazile entered the transfer portal, but opted to return after talking with Calipari.
"TB has just come on," Calipari said. "He's special. 6'10", folks, can guard guards. Head on the rim. Did you see that dunk? I sat down. I don't even know. I think Malique threw him a bad pass, and he got it from behind his head. How did you get that down? I just sat down 'cause everybody on the bench is looking at me. I'm like, Don't look at me. I can't believe how he ever got that ball.
"But he never ceases to amaze me some of the stuff he does. Some of the blocks. We've won games based on him getting a block in the last 10 seconds of the game, and it wasn't on his man. It was on someone else driving, he goes over and blocks it, rebound, we won the game."
Richmond added 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists. D.J. Wagner chipped in seven points, three rebounds and four assists.
Hawai'i was topped by Bullock with 21 points and he also had eight boards. Isaac Johnson had 15 points. Isaac Finlinson was next with 12 points and Isaiah Kerr came off the bench to score 11.
The loss ends the season for Hawai'i (24-9). Arkansas (27-8) will now face High Point (31-4) on Saturday. High Point, a 12-seed, defeated Wisconsin 83-82 to advance.
