Darius Acuff Jr.’s late-game scoring seals win for Razorbacks over Louisville
FAYETTEVILLE — A raucous, rowdy crowd inside Bud Walton Arena gave the Razorbacks the edge, and it was the play of Darius Acuff Jr. down the stretch that sealed the win for the No. 25 Arkansas Razorbacks (6-2) over the No. 6 Louisville Cardinals (7-1) in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Wednesday night.
The freshman phenom dropped 17 points and dished out 10 assists for his first collegiate double-double, and 11 of those points came in the second half while the Cardinals were trying to mount a rally.
Arkansas pushed the second-half lead to 20 points, but the Cardinals kept punching back and, thanks to several defensive lapses, came within striking distance and trailed by just seven points with 5:45 left in the game.
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Enter Acuff, who scored nine points from that point of the game to the end.
”He was huge, at the end of the game, for that four minutes, other than us being one, is being together, he was everything,” Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas said postgame. “Like, DA controlled the game offensively, and then defensively, we got to be an accordion. We got to all be one, but he was huge for us, distributing the ball, scoring the ball when we needed it. That’s everything, especially from a freshman. That don’t look like no freshman to me.”
Perhaps the most important bucket that Acuff scored in that stretch was at the 4:45 mark of the game. He came off a ball screen from Malique Ewin, drove right past the defender and got the bucket to fall with the foul.
That bucket and ensuing free throw put Arkansas ahead by double digits. It didn’t end the game, but it energized the Razorbacks and allow them to get to the finish line.
Fellow five-star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. dropped 22 points, 16 of which came in the second half. For a 60-second period, he and Acuff traded blows, and every time Brown would hit a layup, Acuff would make a play off a ball screen and answer back.
Acuff is still just a freshman and had a few freshman mistakes. He failed to cross halfcourt in time and got a 10-second violation at a critical juncture of the second half.
“He’s grown a ton, but he’s got a long way to go still,” head coach John Calipari said postgame. “What he didn’t recognize the 20-second clock, but it’s not his fault, because I didn’t notice it either. Okay? He did a couple things like, I’m saying I got to take you out if you’re not getting your stuff in order, because we can lose this game.”
Acuff and the Razorbacks will be back in action on Saturday when they host Fresno State in North Little Rock. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. CT and the game will stream on SEC Network+.
