UH Vs. Arkansas (March Madness Round 1) 3/19/26

The road to glory has ended.

The University of Hawaiʻi Men’s Basketball team had its dream season come to an end with a 97-78 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks on Thursday at the Moda Center in Portland, OR.

The ‘Bows officially conclude their 2025-26 season at 24-9 overall and end their tenure as Big West members before moving to the Mountain West in 2026-27.

Dre Bullock led the way for the ‘Bows at 21 points and eight rebounds. Isaac Johnson chipped in 15 points and five rebounds. Isaac Finlinson added 12 points, and Isaiah Kerr added 11 off the bench; both Finlinson and Kerr had two rebounds apiece.

Darius Acuff led a five-pack of double-digit scoring Razorbacks with 24 points, three rebounds, and seven assists. Meleek Thomas was next with 21 and eight rebounds. Trevon Brazile was next with 19 with Malique Ewin adding a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds. Billy Richmond III added 10 himself.

UH got out to a slow start and trailed early, 26-7. They did hit its stride with Johnson achieving a dunk and the team’s first of 10 total triples to start a 9-0 UH run. They cut the gap down to 10, but Arkansas slammed the door shortly thereafter.

UH tried its hardest, but Arkansas’ Acuff and Thomas were too much.

At halftime, UH trailed, 54-36. Initially, Hunter Erickson buried a triple at the buzzer, but the refs negated the shot.

UH started the second half with an 11-4 run and got the gap down to nine, 56-47 off a Bullock dunk, but that was the closest they got.

Arkansas scored 13 total points with seven straight from Acuff, and they were not threatened the rest of the way.

For now, we wait until next season when UH will begin its first season in the Mountain West Conference.