Oklahoma Can't Hold Lead Against Arkansas as Sooners Drop Seventh Game in a Row

The Sooners led by as many as 13 points on Tuesday, but their losing streak continued at the hands of the Razorbacks.

Oklahoma forward Tae Davis drives against Arkansas. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

NORMAN — Oklahoma put together one of its best offensive performances of the 2025-26 season against Arkansas on Tuesday.

But that didn’t amount to a win.

The Sooners fell 83-79 to the Razorbacks after holding a 13-point lead in the first half. The loss is Oklahoma’s seventh in a row.

OU fell to 11-10 overall and 1-7 in SEC play with the loss, while Arkansas improved to 15-5 and 6-2.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Freshman makes go-ahead layup for Razorbacks

Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr. drives against Oklahoma. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. didn’t let his youth get the best of him late in Tuesday’s game.

With OU leading by two points, Acuff got fouled and made one of two free-throw attempts to make it a one-point game. Arkansas got a stop on OU’s next possession before Acuff made a layup in transition with a foul.

Acuff converted on his free throw to give Arkansas a two-point lead. On Oklahoma’s ensuing possession, Xzayvier Brown drove in for a layup, but Razorbacks forward Trevon Brazile swatted his attempt away. Arkansas collected the rebound and made both free throws to clinch its four-point win. 

The Razorbacks outscored the Sooners 39-31 in the second half. Oklahoma led early on, holding a 38-25 lead with a few minutes remaining in the first half.

Razorbacks score inside with ease

Despite entering Tuesday’s game with the SEC’s best three-point percentage, the Razorbacks struggled from deep.

They connected on only two of their 17 three-point attempts. Even guard Meleek Thomas — who came in shooting over 40 percent on 3-pointers — was held to a 0-of-4 clip from deep.

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But Arkansas made up for its poor three-point shooting with strong offense inside.

The Razorbacks finished the game shooting 56 percent from the field. Arkansas outscored the Sooners 56-30 in the paint.

Acuff led the Razorbacks in scoring with 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Three of his misses came on three-point attempts, as he went 6-of-12 on twos.

Another strong outing for Pack

Oklahoma guard Nijel Pack drives against Arkansas. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Nijel Pack’s dry spell seems to be a thing of the past, and that was a silver lining to be found in defeat.

Pack, who transferred to OU from Miami ahead of the 2025-26 season, finished Tuesday’s game with a game-high 22 points. He connected on six of his 11 attempts from behind the three-point line.

Pack’s big game follows his exceptional showing in the Sooners’ 88-87 overtime loss at Missouri. He finished that game with 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting, and he went 5-of-8 on 3-pointers.

Before these strong two games, Pack was struggling. He shot just 3-of-19 on 3-pointers in OU’s losses to Florida, Alabama and South Carolina and was held below 10 points in two of those games.

Pack entered Tuesday’s game averaging 15.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 42.2 percent on 3-pointers.