Razorbacks defense still leans on offense as SEC season arrives

Arkansas pushes toward SEC play with leaky defense, bright offense, and a freshman guard carrying more weight than a Christmas ham

Arkansas Razorbacks guard Darius Acuff during game against the Southern Jaguars at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-allHOGS Images

We’ve reached that festive part of the year when Arkansas wraps up the non-conference slate, and everyone politely pretends the defensive issues will magically fix themselves the moment SEC play starts.

The Razorbacks get one more run-through next Monday against James Madison in Bud Walton Arena at 7 p.m., streamed on SEC Network Plus for anyone who enjoys multitasking frustration.

Arkansas sits at 9–3, all three losses courtesy of Top 10 teams, which sounds nice until you realize Houston hung 94 on the Hogs last Saturday.

The Razorbacks dropped to No. 18 afterward, and frankly, that ranking feels like a neighbor being kind about your lawn even though they clearly saw the weeds.

The record says one thing; the scoreboard says another. And the scoreboard has been tattle-tailing on the defense for weeks.

He’s DOMINATING right now pic.twitter.com/ss8OyvIjCB

— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) December 21, 2025

Last year, the Hogs played defense like a church youth group trying to win a free pizza party — full effort, questionable style, but always enough to survive.

That group finished 18th nationally in defensive efficiency, dragging an offense ranked 68th behind it.

This year? Arkansas flipped the script and somehow lost the plot. The Razorbacks are 19th in offensive efficiency and 50th in defensive efficiency, which is the basketball version of frying chicken perfectly but burning the biscuits.

And yes, you can win with great offense. You can also lose with it, as Houston made clear.

Defense steals spotlight — for wrong reasons

If Arkansas ever guards somebody for 40 minutes straight, the fans might not know what to do with themselves. The Hogs show flashes — against Louisville, Fresno State, and briefly in the Texas Tech game — but flashes don’t win anything besides arguments about “potential.”

The Cougars game made it plain: Arkansas outscored Houston by 12 over the final 30 minutes, but those first 10 minutes were a defensive yard sale. Broken coverages everywhere, and Houston grabbed every bargain.

John Calipari even said 85 points “should’ve been enough.” He’s right. It should’ve. It wasn’t. Because defending is still optional too often, and optional usually loses.

Arkansas can fill the basket. That’s settled. Whether the Razorbacks can stop someone else from filling theirs? That’s the puzzle sitting half-finished on the dining room table while January creeps closer.

Make it 3️⃣ in a row for 5️⃣🔥 pic.twitter.com/NyfEHQuRuI

— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) December 22, 2025

Acuff is Razorbacks’ steady hand in chaos

Thank goodness for Darius Acuff Jr., who is currently doing his best impersonation of the grown-up in the room despite being a freshman. The Hogs’ offense works because he works.

Acuff averages 18.9 points and 6.2 assists, hitting nearly half his shots and 43.8% from deep. Against ranked opponents, he bumps it to 20.2 points and 7.2 assists, which is the basketball version of cutting the grass before company comes over — he just does it better when someone’s watching.

He ranks fifth among all freshmen in scoring and second in assists, and his 3.08 assist-to-turnover ratio puts him 49th nationally.

That’s rare air for someone still figuring out which campus lots tow after midnight.

His 27 points and seven assists against Houston were the lone bright spots in a game that otherwise looked like the Razorbacks trying to bail out a sinking canoe with a coffee mug.

It was his seventh 20-point game and the third straight, and it set the season-high for any Razorback.

Enjoy him while he’s here. Nothing in college basketball lasts long, especially talent this polished.

Trevon Brazile is one of the most athletic players in college hoops
pic.twitter.com/jHAX8r4B2J

— Josh Teeter (@joshteeter01) November 8, 2025

Brazile’s inconsistency defines how high Hogs can climb

Then there’s Trevon Brazile, Arkansas’ most important — and most unpredictable — player. When he’s dialed in, the Razorbacks look like they can beat ranked teams.

When he’s drifting or in foul trouble, the Hogs look like they’re waiting on someone else to fix everything.

Brazile averages 14.2 points and 7.0 boards while shooting 54.7% overall and 45.7% from three. Those numbers suggest he’s a difference-maker.

But in the losses to Michigan State, Duke, and Houston, he averaged only 6.3 points on 33.3% shooting. That’s not a difference-maker; that’s a ghost sighting.

In Arkansas’ ranked wins over Louisville and Texas Tech, however, he put up 22.5 points per game on 66.7% shooting. He even hit nearly 78% from three in those matchups.

That’s the kind of production that convinces fans to start saving for postseason tickets.

The Razorbacks don’t need Brazile to be a superhero. They just need him to show up, rebound, defend, and avoid two fouls before the first media timeout.

Still time to reinvent season — if defense comes along

As messy as some of this has been, the Hogs still have 19 regular-season games plus the SEC Tournament. That’s 20 chances to grow, improve, or at least stop spotting opponents double-digit leads.

Calipari’s teams tend to mature as the season goes on, and this group fits the pattern. The Houston loss wasn’t a disaster; it was a reminder that offense alone won’t carry Arkansas where it wants to go.

The Razorbacks can absolutely reach their full potential. But that potential doesn’t move until the defense does.

Key takeaways

• Arkansas’ defense remains the glaring problem despite strong offensive play.
• Darius Acuff continues to perform like a top freshman nationally.
• Trevon Brazile’s consistency will dictate the Razorbacks’ ceiling in SEC play.