December 20, 2025 at 8:32 p.m.
by Anthony Kristensen
NEWARK, N.J. — For a stretch of the first half, the Arkansas men’s basketball team was picked apart in every way it could be.
The Razorbacks were missing shots. They were gifting Houston possessions. The Cougars made them pay. 
Houston went on a 21-2 run from the 12:59 mark to 9:34, cashing in on 5 Arkansas turnovers and extending their lead to as many as 21 points. The Razorbacks made a game of it, but that stretch proved insurmountable in their 94-85 loss at Prudential Center on Saturday, missing key opportunities down the stretch.
The No. 8 Cougars scored 19 points on 12 total Arkansas turnovers, with 9 of those giveaways coming in the first half.
That 21-2 stretch separated the two sides. There were instances in which the No. 14 Razorbacks, which shot 49% from the field in front of an Arkansas-friendly Garden State audience, cut into the deficit at times, but never led after the 18:21 mark of the first half when the score was 4-3.
“We talked about easy play. ‘Don’t try to make the hardest plays, that gets them going,’” Razorbacks coach John Calipari said. “We had more turnovers than we averaged…. Things that were out of character, but give them credit. One, we could not stay in front of them.”
Such are the dangers when playing against coach Kelvin Sampson’s Houston. The Cougars’ competitiveness is second-to-none, and their defense is suffocatingly beautiful.
Houston switches at the right time, is physical and hardly allows its opponent to get good looks. Once the Cougars (11-1) stack stops, the constriction gets tighter and the margin for error for an opponent shrinks. And eventually, that opponent loses its oxygen.
“We score [85] points, that’s enough to win the game,” Calipari said. “We were prepared for the trapping, we knew what we wanted to do, how we wanted to play, and we got sloppy. You don’t get sloppy from a team that, how they play is driven by how they guard.”
Arkansas’ fight was admirable. The Razorbacks (9-3), led by Darius Acuff’s career- and game-high 27 points, had their moments in a strong shooting night. It just was not enough.
“We still have a lot of work to do. They scored a lot of baskets that we wouldn’t like,” Houston guard Milos Uzan said. “I think, defensively, we’re getting better…. I see growth, for sure.”
That was due in part to their poor free-throw shooting.
Arkansas went 21 of 35 from the charity stripe, a poor shooting performance but a potentially bright sign in the sense that it earned that many opportunities. The Razorbacks entered Saturday shooting 77% from the line as a team, so it may have been an anomaly, but they did not take advantage of the easy opportunities afforded to them.
And when a team is as stout defensively and as lethal in transition as Houston is, those moments haunt box scores.
“Make your free throws, and now we’re at 90 [points],” Calipari said. “You don’t have to make them all, but you can’t miss 14.”
Arkansas finished its nonconference games against ranked opponents 2-3. The Razorbacks defeated Louisville and Texas Tech and lost to Michigan State, Duke and Houston.
Now, Arkansas has a final home buy game against James Madison before SEC play begins. The Razorbacks have been flummoxed by zone defenses and were again when the Cougars switched to a rare zone look.
“That was the first time we’ve played zone since I was at Montana Tech,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson joked. “It’s been a while…. It will never be our fastball, but it’s nice to know you’ve got a curveball.”
Sampson complimented Arkansas ahead of its conference slate. The SEC is not as strong as it was a year ago, but the Razorbacks have set themselves up well from a resume standpoint with their difficult and largely successful nonconference slate.
“This is the best team we’ve played to this point,” Sampson said. “Arkansas, they’re going to be good. They’re going to get better…. They have really, really good pieces. We’re not even to Christmas yet, they’re going to get better and better. I think Arkansas has as good a chance as anybody to win the SEC this year.”
But, leaving Prudential Center quickly following the final buzzer, Arkansas rued the opportunities missed for another marquee win.
The Razorbacks will likely be fine, but a win over Houston — which could well be a national title contender — may have been a seed-line difference come Selection Sunday. The New Jersey trip will likely not be a detrimental loss, but it did represent a missed opportunity.
“This one kind of got away,” Calipari said. “We have a good team. We’ve got to have guys play better.”
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