FAYETTEVILLE — John Calipari isn’t panicked.
In the immediate aftermath of Arkansas basketball’s 94-85 loss to Houston on Saturday, Dec. 20, the Hall of Fame coach expressed little stress with his team’s performance. He admitted that at this moment of the season, the Cougars were the better team. He expects Houston to challenge for the Final Four, and Calipari believes his Razorbacks (9-3) held their own across five difficult non conference games against other national title contenders.
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However, if there is a fatal flaw for this year’s Hogs, it was on full display in the shootout against Houston.
Kelvin Sampson team’s are defined by their defensive solidity, and Saturday was the third time since 2021 Houston scored at least 90 points against a Power 4 opponent. The other two occasions required overtime.
None of the last 10 national champions have ranked outside the top-25 of KenPom’s defensive efficiency rating. Arkansas currently sits 48th with a rating of 100.3. That would have ranked 59th last season.
Assistant coach Kenny Payne summed up the Razorbacks’ outlook after a 108-80 win over Queens on Tuesday, Dec. 16.
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“Look, we’re going to score baskets. We have a good offensive team,” Payne said. “What’s going to separate us is how we attend to little details on the defensive end of the floor, keeping the ball in front, on-ball screen defense, bigs being up to touch, not in drop coverage, especially against the team that shoots a bunch of 3s.”
Outside of the advanced metrics, the Arkansas defense still doesn’t paint a pretty picture. The Razorbacks rank 223rd nationally and 12th in the SEC in allowing 74.9 points per game. That number figures to rise in the coming months with cupcake nonconference games disappearing for the grind of an SEC schedule.
Last year’s national champion, Florida, allowed 69.6 points per game. That was 97th nationally.
A big concern for Arkansas coming out of the loss to Houston was the defense from its backcourt. In losses to Duke and Michigan State, the Hogs struggled on the interior. The Spartans gobbled up offensive rebounds and the Blue Devils torched the Razorbacks through Cameron Boozer posts and drives. Texas Tech scored 86 by running its offense through center JT Toppin.
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Arkansas couldn’t stop Houston’s guards from getting into the paint, where they either made layups or kicked it out to open shooters. The Cougars went 11 for 25 on 3-pointers and shot 52% overall.
Darius Acuff Jr., D.J. Wagner and Meleek Thomas could not stay in front of their assignments. Houston freshman Kingston Flemings was particularly exceptional at attacking the rim, finishing with 21 points and five assists despite not hitting a single 3-pointer. With Flemings’ drives, ace shooter Emmanuel Sharp had extra space in the second half and led the Cougars with 22 points.
And despite those defensive struggles, Arkansas may have won the game if not for nine first-half turnovers and 14 misses at the free-throw line. The Razorbacks fell well below their season averages in both departments and still scored more points than any other Houston opponent this season.
“We scored (85) points. That’s enough to win the game,” Calipari said.
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That offensive ceiling is why Calipari isn’t stressed, but if there’s cause for concern, it starts with the Arkansas defense.
Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@usatodayco.com or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Arkansas basketball’s defense must improve to win a national title
