How it happened: No. 25 Arkansas boxes out No. 6 Louisville 89-80
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — University of Louisville men’s basketball went on the road for the first time this season and came home with a digit in the loss column after an 89-80 defeat at the hands of No. 25 Arkansas.
It was the first meeting between the two since 2022 and the first game in Fayetteville since 1994, a 91-88 win for Louisville. Also notably, it was the first time John Calipari had faced Louisville since leaving Kentucky, and next to him on the UA bench was former Cardinals head coach
Louisville got off to an ice-cold start from Nolan Richardson Court. In the first half, the Cards were 3-of-20 from beyond the arc and had made 12 fewer free throws than the Razorbacks. The Cardinals went into the break trailing 47-29, their largest halftime deficit under Pat Kelsey.
The second half was a bit of a fresh start for Louisville, as they outscored the Razorbacks 51-42 in the final 20 minutes.
The Cards trailed by eight at the under-four-minute timeout of the second half, but a rally was too little, too late as Arkansas hit free throws down the stretch. By the final buzzer, Arkansas had made 27-of-35 attempts from the charity stripe. The Razorbacks’ lead got to as little as five with eight minutes to play.
Mikel Brown Jr. had a Louisville team-high 22 points on 7-of-19 from the floor and 2-of-13 from beyond the arc.
Due to the Razorbacks’ constant attack, Louisville also had Ryan Conwell foul out, plus Kobe Rodgers and Adrian Wooley both had four fouls off the bench in the second half. Conwell had 15 points and made three triples, and Isaac McKNeely (11) and Sananda Fru (14) were also in double-figures for the Cards.
Arkansas was led by athletic wing Trevon Brazile, who scored a team-best 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including three made 3s. Coming in the fifth year was 4-of-16 from distance. Freshman point guard Darius Acuff Jr. was a handful for the Cardinals defensively and scored 17 points. He got to the basket consistently and also found his spots as a passer. His 10 assists were far and away the most on the Razorbacks on Wednesday.
Also in double-figures for Arkansas were freshman guard Meleek Thomas, center Malique Ewin, and Billy Richmond.
Louisville was outmanned on the glass, as UA’s 18 offensive rebounds were the most given up by the Cards this season. Arkansas scored 27 points on second-chance points. Louisville had only been outrebounded once this season (Kentucky), and the Cards were again on Wednesday, 46-36.
Although Louisville did hold the scoring advantage in the paint, 42-34.
The Cardinals travel to Indianapolis on Saturday to take on No. 22 Indiana in Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
