If the Alabama Crimson Tide have another deep March Madness run in them, Wednesday night's game at Coleman Coliseum might prove to be a significant catalyst.
No. 25 Alabama overcame a 10-point deficit at halftime, and a spectacular performance from Arkansas true freshman Darius Acuff Jr., to defeat the 20th-ranked Razorbacks in a 117-115 double-overtime shootout in Tuscaloosa.
Acuff dazzled both the crowd and a national audience watching on ESPN with 49 points, the second-most points scored by a player in Arkansas history, as well as the second-most by anyone in college basketball this season.
Labaron Philon's 35 points were a career-high for Alabama (19-7 overall, 9-4 SEC) along with seven assists. Aiden Sherrell added 26 points for the Crimson Tide to go with 13 rebounds. Freshman Amari Allen also had a double-double with 19 points and 11 boards.
Alabama would need every shot, every rebound, every possession it took to topple the Razorbacks.
Arkansas (19-7, 9-4) took the lead early and would go up by as many as 14 points in a first half that saw the Hogs shoot lights-out from the field. Alabama used an 18-4 run in the second half to tie the game. The Tide would lead by six with five minutes left in regulation before Acuff's 3-pointer with 11.9 seconds remaining sent the game to overtime.
Even with Arkansas in foul trouble and four Razorbacks players fouling out, neither team was able to separate too far from the other or go on too big a run late. Houston Mallette gave Alabama a 117-113 lead on a 3-pointer with 51 seconds left in the second overtime to put the Crimson Tide ahead for good.
Arkansas picked up 24 points from freshman guard Meleek Thomas and 20 from sophomore Billy Richmond. The Tide had a 43-36 edge in rebounds.
Alabama beat the Razorbacks for the sixth consecutive time dating back to 2022. The Crimson Tide have won five straight games since their 100-77 loss to the SEC-leading Florida Gators on Feb. 1 in Gainesville. Arkansas saw a three-game winning streak snapped Wednesday.
After the game, Arkansas coach John Calipari met briefly with reporters to discuss his team's double-overtime loss to Alabama. Here's what the longtime college basketball coach had to say about Nate Oats' Crimson Tide.
John Calipari offers brief comment on officiating, Arkansas trouble after loss to Alabama
Arkansas committed 26 fouls in Wednesday's game while Alabama committed 17. Calipari was asked how difficult foul trouble made things on the Razorbacks' chances to win.
"It makes it very hard. I don't want to talk about the fouls and all of that because I don't want to get in trouble," Calipari said.
The longtime coach, in his second season at Arkansas after 15 seasons at Kentucky, then praised Alabama.
"Give Alabama credit," Calipari said. "They fought 'til the very end. Give my team credit. They fought. I told them after, 'I'm proud of you. You fought. Never gave up.' We had a chance right down to the end."
What Arkansas coach John Calipari saw from Alabama basketball after halftime
"We were not staying in front of people, and you have a guy — we keep saying that he likes going left, and he kept going left. And he kept going left, and they kept calling fouls. And he kept going left. So, we know (Alabama) tried to switch up the pick-and-roll stuff to slow Darius down. I think he had 50, so… they did some good stuff and we had to adjust and we had to put Billy (Richmond) and stuff. But fouling guys out, that's going to hurt this team, and you know that. Everybody watching the game, doing the game. You call a lot of fouls like that in a rough, rough game, we're going to be down to two when the rent is due."
John Calipari on electric freshman Darius Acuff's career night against Alabama
"He was in a boot for two days and still did that. I said, 'You think you might have to miss this game?' He said, 'Are you nuts?' He didn't care. Hurt, whatever it is, he was in a boot for two days."
John Calipari asked how difficult it is to slow down Alabama basketball's tempo
"At halftime, we had 11 points in transition. They had two. We're really fast, too. You've got two really fast teams."
'You had to fight for your life,' John Calipari says of Arkansas' loss to Alabama
Responding to a question about freshman Meleek Thomas, who finished with 24 points in 37 minutes before fouling out, Calipari expanded:
"And then he got in foul trouble. And you know, it was a mucked-up kind of game. Like, I'm shoving you into the screen. I'm moving and you're fighting for your life to get through stuff. I mean, that's what the game ended up being. You could either accept getting nudged and then the guy moving on it or you fight like heck, and they did. I've got to give them credit. The kids fought. Got us into foul trouble, but you had no choice. You had to fight four your life."
How did Alabama slow down Arkansas after Razorbacks' blistering start?
"Well, they started saying, 'We're going to put guards in these pick-and-rolls and anything so we can switch and at least stay in front. That's what they were trying to do. But again, I mean, we shot 3's. We made more 3's than they made. We make more field goals than they make. We only have seven turnovers. They out-rebound us by a few. And both of us, we have six blocks and they have one, and you get beat."
Watch the full press conference below.
Alabama basketball schedule 2026
With five games left in the regular season, Alabama will travel to Baton Rouge to face the LSU Tigers (14-12, 2-11) Saturday. Tipoff for Alabama-LSU is 5 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
All start times Central.
- Nov. 3: vs. North Dakota (W, 91-62)
- Nov. 8: at St. John's (W, 103-96)
- Nov. 13: vs. Purdue (L, 87-80)
- Nov. 19: vs. Illinois (W, 90-86)
- Nov. 24: vs. Gonzaga (L, 95-85)
- Nov. 25: vs. UNLV (W, 115-76)
- Nov. 26: vs. Maryland (W, 105-72)
- Dec. 3: vs. Clemson (W, 90-84)
- Dec. 7: vs. UTSA (W, 97-55)
- Dec. 13: vs. Arizona (L, 96-75)
- Dec. 17: vs. South Florida (W, 104-93)
- Dec. 21: vs. Kennesaw State (W, 92-81)
- Dec. 29: vs. Yale (W, 102-78)
- Jan. 3: vs. Kentucky (W, 89-74)
- Jan. 7: at Vanderbilt (L, 96-90)
- Jan. 10: vs. Texas (L, 92-88)
- Jan. 13: at Mississippi State (W, 97-82)
- Jan. 17: at Oklahoma (W, 83-81)
- Jan. 24: vs. Tennessee (L, 79-73)
- Jan. 27: vs. Missouri (W, 90-64)
- Feb. 1: at Florida (L, 100-77)
- Feb. 4: vs. Texas A&M (W, 100-97)
- Feb. 7: at Auburn (W, 96-92)
- Feb. 11: at Ole Miss (W, 93-74)
- Feb. 14: vs. South Carolina (W, 89-75)
- Feb. 18: vs. Arkansas (W, 117-115, 2OT)
- Feb. 21: at LSU, 5 p.m., SEC Network
- Feb. 25: vs. Mississippi State, ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Feb. 28: at Tennessee, ESPN or ESPN2
- March 3: at Georgia, 5:30 p.m., ESPNews
- March 7: vs. Auburn, 7:30 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2
Overall: 19-7.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: John Calipari speaks out after Arkansas' 2OT loss to Alabama