Reaction to High-Flying Hogs Hammering Hawaii, Now Face Cinderella

Arkansas' balanced attack and inspired effort sealed early win but High Point has another upset in mind.

Arkansas Razorbacks guard Darius Acuff Jr. drives against Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in the first half during a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

A sensational performance and a March Madness upset made Thursday's first round of the NCAA Tournament a thoroughly enjoyable day for Arkansas coach John Calipari and his Razorbacks.

The No. 4 seed Razorbacks manhandled the overmatched No. 13 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in a ??-?? blowout Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore.

With a sensational display of skill and athleticism that resulted in one highlight play after another, the Hogs blazed to an 11-0 lead, extended it to 26-7 less than 10 minutes into the contest, and enjoyed an 18-point halftime lead, the largest in school history in the Big Dance.

Arkansas threw down 1️⃣1️⃣ dunks today 😳#MarchMadness @RazorbackMBB pic.twitter.com/rQ93rODT3o

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2026

Hawaii finally started making shots but the Rainbow Warriors never trimmed the deficit to single digits as they couldn't contend with the Razorbacks' skill, quickness, athleticism or precison.

Calipari was equal parts satisfied and proud of the way his team responded to the challenge of playing well in the first round of March Madness.

Razorbacks avoid Madness but others not so fortunate

While the Razorbacks were running and dunking and cruising to an easy victory, No. 1 overall seed Duke and SEC mate Vanderbilt were struggling against lesser opponents.

Both the Blue Devils and Commodores prevailed, breathed a collective sigh of relief, and plan to play better in their second-round games Saturday.

Another power conference team, the Wisconsin Badgers, was not so fortunate

Cinderella awaits Razorbacks with another upset in mind

Arkansas easily advanced as expected into the second round but waiting for them is not Wisconsin the No. 5 seed from the powerful Big 10 Conference.

Rather, it's No. 12 seed High Point, who dispatched the Badgers with an 83-82 nail-biting upset victory. It's the first NCAA Tournament win in High Point history.

Calipari wants to make sure the Panthers -- yes, I had to look up their nickname -- don't manufacture a second upset.

If the Hogs play the way they did in the first half against Hawaii, there's little chance High Point, from the Big South Conference, can recreate their magical moment from Thursday.

But don't tell that to High Point coach Flynn Clayman, who expressed his disgust that power conference teams supposedly won't schedule his Panthers out of fear they might lose.

High Point’s coach Flynn Clayman immediately starting to talk shit on everyone who doubted them after their upset on Wisconsin is incredible…

All-time clip - Hard not to root for these dudespic.twitter.com/rCG6Ts8p0e

— Josh Reynolds (@JoshReynolds24) March 19, 2026

"They said we didn't play nobody," Clayman said. "We played somebody now," Clayman said. "But they got to play us in this tournament."

Be careful what you ask for, coach Clayman. Now you get Acuff and his merry band of shotmakers and high-flying dunkers.

Stage fright? Hardly, as Arkansas freshman ready for prime time

Both of the Hogs' fabulous freshman guards, Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas, stuffed the stat sheet against Hawaii. They combined for 27 points by halftime -- half of the Razorbacks' total as they led 54-36 -- to go with eight assists.

It was a total team effort by Calipari's regular seven-man rotation. Acuff led the way with 24 points and seven assists while Thomas had 21 points, eight reboundsand five assists.

"[Meleek & Darius] have other-worldly confidence. Both of them could run for President some day." 😂

Coach Calipari spoke w/ @JaredSGreenberg about his standout freshman after the #MarchMadness win 🗣️@RazorbackMBB pic.twitter.com/iETBX1GyeS

— Bubba Elofskey  (v2) (@BubbaV239368) March 19, 2026

Hogs big men Trevon Brazile (19 points, six rebounds, three blocks) and Malique Ewin (16 points, 12 boards, six assists) were dominant. Billy Richmond III added 10 points and six rebounds while DJ Wagner scored seven off the bench.

Nick Pringle, bothered by a muscle strain, did not play.

Panthers' high point was beating Wisconsin, coach wants more

Clayman is adamant that power conference schools won't schedule the likes of NCAA Tournament teams like High Point and Miami (Ohio), both of whom won their opening tourney games, Miami's coming in the "First Four" play-in round.

"It's time for the big major schools to play us mid-majors," he said with incredible intensity. "Stop running." 

High Point is 31-5 and champion of the Big South Conference. Had the Panthers not won their conference tournament, they likely would not have received an invitation to March Madness. 

They're 75th in the NCAA Net Rankings. True to Clayman's argument, they were 0-0 in the regular season against Quad 1 teams. But they were 0-2 against Quad 2 programs, just 5-2 versus Quad 3s and 22-0 against their own kind.

Yes, they nipped Wisconsin in perhaps the most exciting game of the tournament so far.

My sense is that when Clayman and his staff scouted Arkansas' beatdown of Hawaii from courtside Thursday, more than once they exclaimed, "Wow!' and more than twice they wondered if they can contain Acuff and company.