Arkansas vs Hawaii score: Darius Acuff, Razorbacks win March Madness first-round game

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Fourth-seed Arkansas (27-8) ran past No. 13 Hawaii (24-9) 97-78 in the first round of the Men's NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon in Portland, Oregon.

For John Calipari, this is his 25th March Madness appearance. With two wins this weekend, he will reach the 17th Sweet 16 of his career.

The Razorbacks were led by SEC Player of the Year Darius Acuff Jr., who was dominant in Arkansas' SEC tournament championship run and who finished with a game-high 24 points against Hawaii. The freshman is a likely high-lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

Five-star freshman Meleek Thomas had 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Arkansas while Malique Ewin added 16 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

With the win, the Razorbacks advance to the second round, where they'll take on No. 12 seed High Point on Saturday. The Panthers earned a last-second 83-82 win earlier in the day Thursday against No. 5 seed Wisconsin.

USA TODAY Sports provided live updates from Arkansas vs. Hawaii in the NCAA tournament. Here are the highlights:

Arkansas vs Hawaii live score

This section will be updated throughout the game.

Arkansas vs Hawaii live updates

This section will be updated throughout the game.

Arkansas blows past Hawaii, moves on to face High Point

It's a final from Portland, with Arkansas knocking off Hawaii 97-78 after a high-scoring second half in which the teams combined for 85 points.

Four Razorbacks players finished with at least 16 points, led by 24 from Darius Acuff Jr. Meleek Thomas had 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Arkansas while Malique Ewin added 16 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

With the victory, coach John Calipari and his team will face No. 12 seed High Point, which upset No. 5 seed Wisconsin earlier in the day, on Saturday.

Arkansas still up comfortably over Hawaii

At the under-12 media timeout of the second half, Arkansas is still going strong, with a 73-55 lead over Hawaii with 11:26 remaining. Darius Acuff Jr. is taking over for the Hogs, with a game-high 22 points, nine of which have come in the first eight minutes of the second half.

John Calipari's team is still ridiculous inside the 3-point arc, with 48 points in the paint and making 27 of its 37 2-pointers.

Arkansas takes 15-point lead into halftime

Arkansas' big early run is the difference, with the Razorbacks taking a 54-36 lead into halftime. Five-star freshman Meleek Thomas leads all scorers with 14 points while Darius Acuff Jr. has 13 while making four of his nine shots.

Arkansas has made 20 of its 25 shots inside the arc against a Rainbow Warriors team over which it has a significant size advantage.

Arkansas up big early

Arkansas is picking up right where it left off after winning the SEC tournament earlier this week, rushing out to a 24-7 lead over Hawaii at the under-12 media timeout of the first half. Darius Acuff Jr., not surprisingly, is leading all scorers with nine points thus far.

What TV channel is Arkansas vs Hawaii basketball on today?

• TV channel: TBS
• Streaming: Sling TV

Brad Nessler, Wally Szczerbiak and Jared Greenberg will call the game for TBS.

Arkansas vs Hawaii March Madness game start time today

• Date: Thursday, March 19
• Time: 4:25 p.m. ET
• Location: Portland, Ore.

No. 13 Hawaii vs No. 4 Arkansas predictions

• John Leuzzi: Arkansas
• Ehsan Kassim: Arkansas
• Austin Curtright: Arkansas
• Craig Meyer: Arkansas

Hawaii vs Arkansas odds

Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Thursday, March 19

• Spread: Arkansas (-14.5)
• Over/under: 158.5
• Moneyline: Arkansas (-1400); Hawaii (+825)

Nick Pringle injury update: Arkansas center questionable vs Hawaii

Pringle did not participate in Arkansas' open practice on Wednesday. He had a sleeve on his right leg and stood off to the side for a majority of the workout, occasionally going through dribbling drills, grabbing rebounds and passing to his teammates.

Pringle is averaging 4.6 points and 3.9 rebounds this season. He plays 19 minutes per game.

John Calipari has history of early March Madness upsets

Although it seems like a no-brainer to have Arkansas over Hawaii, Calipari's recent history might suggest otherwise.

In his final three seasons at Kentucky, Calipari's teams lost in the first weekend of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, two of them truly shocking upsets. Kentucky lost in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in 2024. The Wildcats were a No. 3 seed that season but fell to No. 14 Oakland by a final of 80-76.

Kentucky was a No. 2 seed in the 2022 NCAA men's basketball tournament when it went up against No. 15-seed Saint Peter's. It was arguably the biggest upset of the year.

Darius Acuff Jr. stats

• 22.9 points per game
• 3.2 rebounds per game
• 6.5 assists per game
• 48.6% field goal percentage
• 44.5% 3-point field goal percentage

Darius Acuff Jr. 2026 NBA Draft prediction

Projected as the No. 6 to Dallas Mavericks, by For The Win:

"Now led by Cooper Flagg, the Mavericks need to find players who can help Dallas stay competitive on offense and Arkansas freshman Darius Acuff Jr. can do exactly that. The SEC Player of the Year is excellently efficient at operating ball screens or in isolation. He leads freshmen for points created per 40 minutes (43.1) either by himself or through an assist, per CBB Analytics. He can score well from either side of the court and is among the freshmen leaders in both alley-oop assists (15) and field goals made in transition (62) this season. There is a reason rival coach Sean Miller thinks this generational guard should have his name in the mix at No. 1 overall."