February 28, 2026; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks wing Billy Richmond III (24) shoots against Florida Gators guard Alex Kovacev (8) during the first half at ExakTech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Mandatory Credit: Travis Register-Imagn Images No. 20 Arkansas and Texas entered a Southeastern Conference border battle at Fayetteville Arkansas on Tuesday after almost opposite results.
The Razorbacks (21-8, 11-5 SEC) are looking to bounce back from a 111-77 loss to No. 7 Florida on Saturday, tied for the largest margin of loss in coach John Calipari’s 34-year career.
Texas (18-11, 9-7) avenged a home loss to Texas A&M with a 76-70 win Saturday in College Station, snapping a two-game losing streak, the most recent of which was an 84-71 loss to Florida last Wednesday.
First-year coach Sean Miller shifted gears when asked if this was the Longhorns’ biggest win of the season. They also beat currently ranked teams Alabama and Vanderbilt.
“I would say it’s one of them,” Miller said. “Any time you can go on the road in this league late in the season, you have to feel really good about accomplishing that, because it’s so difficult. We found a way to get back on the winning side of the ledger.”
Despite the boredom, Arkansas remains in the lead for one of the SEC Tournament double byes in the top four of the regular season, but the margin has narrowed noticeably.
The Razorbacks are one game behind second-place Alabama (22-7, 12-4) and one game ahead of Kentucky, Missouri and No. 23 Tennessee (all 10-6 in the SEC) with two games remaining. Arkansas closes the regular season Saturday at Missouri.
“I’ve been doing this so long, things happen,” said Calipari, whose 2018-19 Kentucky team lost to Duke 118-84 on Nov. 6, 2018.
“This is not a team I coached. I told them (the players) we had a good February, we just played a dull game,” Calipari said. “Look in the mirror and be honest with yourself. We’ve been playing great so far. Let’s move on.”
The Razorbacks have won five of six and ranked fourth in Division I with 90.3 points per game before their most effective offensive performance of the season in Gainesville, Florida.
Arkansas shot 40 percent and was outrebounded 51-31 by the Gators. Billy Richmond III had 22 points, his fifth straight 20-point game, and leading scorer Darius Acuff Jr. had 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting. He had six assists and three turnovers.
Acuff is averaging 22.0 points and 6.2 assists.
“They stopped him from getting the ball,” Calipari said. “I told him, ‘Their will to stop you from getting the ball is stronger than your will to get open.’” In some cases, I just pointed it out as if others were accepting it. He hasn’t done that all year.”
Former Arkansas guards Tramon Mark (23 points), Jordan Pope (17 points) and Dalylin Swain (11 points, 10 rebounds) led the Longhorns against the Aggies, who shot 38.3 percent from the field. Texas A&M was playing three days after losing 99-84 at Arkansas.
“(Mark) went lights out.” Miller said. “When he gets going, he’s a great offensive player. Jordan looked like a great point guard today, and you need that when you get to the end. It was one of the best defensive performances of the year.”
Pope had just one turnover in 39 minutes as the primary ball-handler against the Aggies’ full-game, full-court press. He is averaging 13.1 points per game, one of four Longhorns in double figures.
–Field level media
