High Point Star Material That's Walked into Wrong Movie Against Hogs

Not since the tariffs kicked in have fancy ball gowns made of fine silk shipped from China been under such an unstoppable assault.

Once again the Arkansas Razorbacks are being tasked to violently end yet another Cinderella story, this time against a High Point team ripped right out of a low budget Disney live action made for TV movie.

Not only did the Panthers make the NCAA Tournament, they took down a Power 4 team in Wisconsin for their first-ever win in the Big Dance and it turned out to be their first P4 win in school history. To top it all off, the winning shot was hit by a player who hadn't scored a two-point basket all season while all alone for a high pressure lay-up with America's eyeballs locked in on nothing but him.

Of course, every great Sunday night Disney presentation isn't complete without a seemingly unbeatable villian and Arkansas fills that role to perfection. The Hogs are led by All-America SEC Player of the Year and Freshman of the year Darius Acuff.

It will probably be revealed he's also the Home Depot Employee of the Month at this rate. To make things more daunting, he's coming off a game where Hawaii tried to force him to carry the weight of an NCAA Tournament game on his own without being able to get assists, yet he and the Robin to his Batman, Meleek Thomas, combined for 45 points.

Also, despite all that special effort to make sure no one could pass the ball effectively, Acuff hit his average of seven assists, Thomas chipped in five and there was even room for the rest of the team to get 14 of their own.

However, that's not obastacle enough. Everyone has seen a David vs. Goliath story, so it won't move the needle if Arkansas simply has a great player whom no one seems to be able to slow down.

That's where the financial checkbooks come in. When it comes to money, this game quickly evolves from a battle against Goliath to a kid whipping around a couple of rocks against Godzilla.

Basketball is the most funded sport at High Point with a budget of $1.9 million, of which, roughly $80,000 is head coach Flynn Clayman's salary. Of course, for sake of building up our bad guy, Arkansas coach John Calipari's salary can't be covered by the entire High Point budget.

Not even close.

With retention payments and any other bonuses he may earn, Calipari will cash in just shy of $8 million in checks. His bonus for just making the NCAA Tournament almost equals Clayman's entire salary.

In fact, at his current rate, Clayman would have to work a full century to equal what Calipari will pocket this season. Still, this tale needs an even more frightening villain, so break out the entire Arkansas budget to drive home the point of how impossible this one may be.

The Razorbacks' base operating budget is a little over 11 times higher than High Point. As for NIL, there is no need to discuss as Hogs mega donor John Tyson has put Arkansas at or near the top in that category.

So, with the stage set, the battle is almost ready to begin. The Razorbacks are going to relentlessly attack the middle of the floor, flying at the rim like they have discovered a chink in the armor that must be hit over and over to take out their foe.

As for High Point, they're going to fight safely at a distance. Threes are going to rain down all over the place.

In the 83-82 upset of Wisconsin, the Panthers hoisted 40 threes. Remember the dramatic lay-up at the end of that game from a player who hadn't made a simple two-point field goal all year long?

Well, turns out he's an aspiring minister who happens to be a three-point specialist. He's not hit a lay-up because he's not really allowed to do such things.

Against the Badgers, Chase Johnston, High Point's hero who has blown up across the country in notoriety, hit 4-of-6 from three. The rest of his team was 11-of-34.

Arkansas' length and athleticism is going to be a problem for him though. Shooting corner threes over a 6-foot-11 Trevon Brazile is borderline impossible.

Brazile's right out of central casting with his long lean body and ability to jump out of the gym. Against Hawaii he was a human highlight reel.

Dunk after dunk. Block after block.

While Arkansas fans are used to seeing him work his magic each week, he's not the sort of player America is accustomed to watching, so he immediately caught their attention. He may be the equivalent of Ivan Drago without the steriods to High Point's Rocky.

And while Hollywood loves a happy ending and Disney always finds a way for the underdog to win, even if it means bringing a literal dog to the basketball court, this isn't likely to be that kind of story.

This is more like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre where the villain doesn't go down. Instead, he's left yelling down the road, waiving his chainsaw everywhere begging his victim to come back for more.

If Arkansas can manage to come out hot once more and players like Brazile and Richmond do what they do, this can get ugly pretty quick. High Point will slowly claw back a little bit with streaks of threes, but it's a huge ask for mid-major teams to sit on perimeter and bomb their way through a game against the Hogs from beginning to end.

The game starts late, but Godzilla may end this one early.

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