No. 20 Arkansas (23-8, 13-5 SEC) put quite the impressive cherry on an impressive regular season in Saturday’s finale against Missouri (20-11, 10-8 SEC).
The 88-84 win gives the Razorbacks a shot at moving a seed in the NCAA Tournament, and they’re locked in as either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament — ensuring a double bye and avoiding Florida until at least the championship game, should they advance that far.
With those lesser stakes in mind, Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari decided to rest star point guard Darius Acuff Jr. against the Tigers. The freshman phenom has been dealing with a nagging ankle injury over the last few weeks, sporting a walking boot in between games. On Saturday, Acuff got to watch fellow sensational freshman Meleek Thomas take a starring turn, popping off for 28 points on 5 of 6 three-point shooting.
Acuff’s brilliant regular season, meanwhile, is over after 30 games with the following averages: 22.2 points, 6.4 assists, 2.0 turnovers, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 stocks (steals plus blocks) while shooting 49.3% from the field, 43.7% from three and 79.4% from the charity stripe.
Acuff leads the SEC in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio, and will also very likely be the league’s scoring champion. Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard would need to score 48 points Saturday to unseat him. Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr. would need a 44-point barrage against Auburn.
Upon the regular season’s conclusion, the league office will release the anticipated all-SEC teams and, of course, announce the SEC Player of the Year recipient. Acuff finally getting a deserved day off against Missouri is the final blow to the field in the race for that coveted award.
Darius Acuff: SEC Player of the Year
The freshman phenom’s name should already be stenciled on the trophy — the argument isn’t nearly as strong for anyone else.
Florida’s Thomas Haugh is firmly in the conversation as the regular season champion’s leading scorer. Arkansas saw his prowess firsthand when he scored 22 points in a mauling last Saturday. The junior is averaging 17.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.6 turnovers and 2.0 stocks while shooting 46.9% from the field.
This is not meant with any disrespect to Haugh, who is a terrific player, but naming him SEC Player of the Year would be a lazy example of merely picking the best player on the best team.
Head coach Todd Golden’s offensive machine would spin just fine without Haugh, as fellow frontcourt stars Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu could pick up almost all of the slack. Even with Billy Richmond III and Meleek Thomas’ excellence this year, the same can’t be said for Arkansas without Acuff.
It’s not like Arkansas is a mediocre team, either. The Hogs are kicking their feet up alongside Florida, Alabama and a yet-to-be-determined four-seed enjoying double byes in the SEC Tournament.
Speaking of Alabama, the Crimson Tide have been doing some last-second peddling for Philon to win the award.
