Arkansas overcomes being stuck in mud early to topple Fresno State

Razorbacks overcome sloppy start to handle business against the Bulldogs in lopsided win

Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari reacts during the first half against the Fresno State Bulldogs at Simmons Bank Arena. in North Little Rock, Ark. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Arkansas overcame a sluggish offensive start to beat the Fresno State Bulldogs inside Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, 82-58.

"The way we’re playing, you should have fun," coach John Calipari said. The only reason you don’t have fun is because you got so much on your head, so much on your shoulders. The weight of the world, you can’t play basketball that way."

Here are three instant takeaways:

Arkansas awakens after slumbering first half

Despite suffocating defense, Arkansas let Fresno State hang around in the first 20 minutes thanks to poor shooting and offensive execution. The two teams were a combined 5-for-24 from beyond the arc in the first half.

The Bulldogs shot just 30% from the floor in the first half but still found themselves within 10 at the break, 34-24.

Arkansas came alive in the second half, starting the second half on a 16-2 run back-to-back threes from Karter Knox to open the scoring brought and otherwise quiet crowd to life.

Arkansas has made a habit of letting mid-major teams hang around longer than the matchup dictates on paper. Arkansas has already had a 1-point win over Winthrop and a 4-point win over Samford.

Darius Acuff Jr. showed his ability to take over a game in double quick time, scoring 11 of his team-high 18 points in the second half and can three triples all in quick succession.

"We just had to pick it up," Acuff said about the offense. "It wasn't really, like, no talk. We just knew what we had to do. We kept it between the team. We just wanted to pick it up more. And we came out with some aggressiveness and energy in the second half." 

After getting 10 assists against Louisville, Acuff followed with eight more assists.

Knox, Wagner both return to life

The returning duo of Knox and DJ Wagner were supposed to bring the Razorbacks some stability and give the Hogs some production the team could count on.

After both struggling in both games against top 10 opponents in No. 4 Duke and No. 6 Louisville, averaging just 7.5 points as a duo, both used the game against a mid-major to get back on track.

Knox's quick spurt to start the second half was part of an 11-point night that also included four rebounds and three assists.

Wagner finished with 12 points. It's the second time that both Knox and Wagner hit double figures and the first game since Jackson State.

More mixing it up by Hogs:

Arkansas has picked up a propensity to get embroiled in unnecessary scuffles.

Billy Richmond electrified the crowd with his patented dunk with 10 minutes left in the second half, but less than 2 minutes later got ejected for a flagrant 2 foul for elbowing a Fresno State player in the face.

"I said ‘Billy, come on,'" Calipari said. "I was just happy they didn’t throw him out for the next game.’ I was upset because there was a whole lot of holding and shoving and stuff, and I knew it could get chippy, and I didn’t want anybody to get hurt. The score was 30. What would I care?"

TURN ME UP 24 pic.twitter.com/Ha8AzZ5CBV

— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) December 6, 2025

This comes a few weeks after Nick Pringle got involved in a scuffle late in the game against Winthrop that almost cost the Razorbacks the game, after both benches cleared.

Arkansas will now return high-major competition against Texas Tech inside American Airlines Center in Dallas, a rematch of last year's Sweet 16, which sent the Razorbacks home. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN2.