Acuff, Richmond Career-High Nights Lead Razorbacks Past Tigers

Arkansas races past Auburn for SEC home victory, take revenge after blowout loss last month

Arkansas Razorbacks guard Darius Acuff Jr (5) dribbles during the first half against the Auburn Tigers at Bud Walton Arena. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Arkansas Razorbacks wanted to get revenge against Auburn and did just that with a 88-75 victory over Auburn Saturday night inside Bud Walton Arena.

The Razorbacks improve to 19-6 overall, 9-3 in SEC play powered by another big night from star guard Darius Acuff. 

Three pairs of Nike’s and 31 points later, Acuff continues to make his case for being named SEC Player of the Year. Since the calendar flipped to January, the true freshman has dazzled every single game with his sixth consecutive 20-point performance in SEC play.

Arkansas Razorbacks wing Billy Richmond III (24) goes up for a dunk during the first half against the Auburn Tigers at Bud Walton Arena. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

While he's been a very dependable three-point shooter for Arkansas this season, he upped his game against Auburn by knocking down a career-high seven attempts from deep.

"That was one of my goals coming in tonight, to make some more threes," Acuff said following the game. "But the most, I had so far is is just four. I just
wanted to shoot a little more."

Billy the Goat

Speaking of career nights, Billy Richmond III has scored in double figures in three straight games coming into the night against Auburn. What many didn't see coming was the scoring eruption that took place as he finished with a career-high 25 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field including numerous highlight reel dunks that will likely be SportsCenter Top 10 worthy.

While he continues to provide frenetic energy on the court as a dependable defensive player, Richmond is starting to put his full arsenal of offense on display each game. His length can cause fits for opponents as there is never a clean passing lane when the ball is near him.

This a better dunk than ANYTHING we saw in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest 😭 pic.twitter.com/9QhPArL2kx

— Hater Report (@HaterReport) February 15, 2026

Even when Richmond's not flashing in the passing lane, he's often looking for a way to spark his team into transition by picking a pocket for an easy two the other way. Saturday night ended up being a staff stuffing kind of night for him by adding four assists, three rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Since Karter Knox and DJ Wagner went down to injuries two weeks ago, Richmond has been a factor in the starting lineup and it doesn't appear he'll be coming out any time soon either.

"Billy is one of the players that I've coached, and I've had a few of these, wherever I play him, he's fine," Calipari said.
"I did bring him off the bench, but you can't bring him off the bench now. Because I like somebody better? No, it has nothing to do with that. It's about how we're starting games."

Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari during the first half against the Auburn Tigers at Bud Walton Arena. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Auburn Kept the Fight

The Tigers were without their leading scorer in Keyshawn Hall Saturday night, which forced coach Steven Pearl to run with a shortened rotation. While sophomore guard Tahaad Pettiford was able to keep Auburn in the game with several timely made three pointers, finishing with 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting, including four makes from beyond the arc.

"I'm just going to continue to push him defensively," Pearl said. "But, he's he's given the effort that's required. He's really been consistent with his routines during the week in preparation for games. And you know, it's when he's making shots like that when our ceiling obviously goes way up."

Although the Tigers were able to dwindle the lead down to single digits sporadically, Pearl's squad was never able to flip the momentum for good. Arkansas would always find an answer with a fastbreak outlet or three point make on consecutive possession for a major response.

Auburn has shown plenty of inconsistencies during the season, and that includes victories over the top two teams in the SEC in Florida and Arkansas. But now in the midst of a four-game losing skid in SEC play, Pearl is focused on things off the court moving forward to help his team reach its full potential before it's too late in the season for a recovery.