Razorbacks' Freshman Finally Gets Serious Minutes and Responds in Win

Isaiah Sealy's numbers weren't spectacular, but he did enough to make John Calipari put him on the list of guys he can use now.

Arkansas Razorbacks forward Trevon Brazile (7) and wing Isaiah Sealy (30) react during the first half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Arkansas coach John Calipari had to do without some familiar faces, but some new guys stepped up more than enough in an 88-68 win over Mississippi State in a lunchtime game.

Especially Springdale freshman Isaiah Sealy, who didn't put up eye popping numbers in his 15 minutes, but did enough to get Razorbacks coach John Calipari attention of what he can do in a game.

“I found another player,” Calipari said later. “Now we have one more guy.”

DJ Wagner and Karter Knox were both held out of the game with injuries that may have played a role in some lackluster performances lately that seemed to be getting worse. Neither one played.

Forward Trevon Brazile, who has also been causing Hog fans to wonder what's wrong with him, roared back against State with 19 points. That included going 3-of-5 on three-pointers. Recently he looked like he lost all of his touch there.

Where did he come from? 👀 pic.twitter.com/GTxy0usjrB

— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) February 7, 2026

Sealy ended up with 6 points on 3-of-6 from the field. More importantly he wasn't getting in anybody else's way that can happen at times with freshmen that haven't seen the floor that much.

"He's a guy who hadn't played a ton in SEC play," Calipari said. "It's just how nice is it to give him the opportunity to see if we can take advantage of it. And he's worked hard this week.

"Now, what happened was, I told him, like, we knew early that we were going to have some minutes, because at least one of those two (Wagner or Knox) were going to be out. And he worked harder than he's worked all season."

Now Sealy is just going to have to show that when he gets more opportunities that sound like they may be coming.

Of course there will be times Calipari will ask him in practice why he's not doing it ike he did when he found out he was playing, but that just goes with the territory.

"It pays off," Calipari said. "Why don't you do that all the time? Really hard if you don't know if you're gonna play or not to keep working. And he did. And, you know, it's great, the team was happy for him."

Sealy may see those minutes continue Tuesday night at LSU but Calipari didn't sound particularly confident Wagner and Knox both would be back by then.

After a sluggish start that saw the Razorbacks miss their first five shots, the Hogs found their mark, making 12 of their next 14 shots to build a 15-point lead.

Isaiah Sealy's cleared for takeoff ✈️ pic.twitter.com/b2Vkon7un3

— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) February 7, 2026

Another cold stretch from the floor allowed the Bulldogs to get back into the game but a 3-pointer from Darius Acuff Jr. at the buzzer sent the Hogs into halftime with a 13-point lead.

Arkansas quickly extended the lead in the second half by making their first three shots and held a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

Acuff Jr. led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range. He added eight assists and five rebounds. Fellow freshman Meleek Thomas added 17 and Brazile scored 19 with eight rebounds.

Those two played all 40 minutes. Nick Pringle chipped six with 11 rebounds and Billy Richmond was sharp from the floor, making 7-of-11 shots for 14 points. Freshman Isaian Sealy scored six points off the bench.

The Hogs stay on the road Tuesday night at LSU with an 8 p.m. start on SEC Network.