FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. \u2014 There are not many nights when a loss teaches as much as a win, but Arkansas walked away from Thursday\u2019s 80-71 loss to No. 4 Duke with a clearer picture of where it stands.<\/p>\n
The Razorbacks stayed beside one of the nation\u2019s top teams for most of the night before the Hogs finally wore down in the late minutes at the CBS Sports Thanksgiving Classic in Chicago.<\/p>\n
Arkansas dropped to 5-2 but showed long stretches of poise and confidence. The Razorbacks trailed by 12 at one point, later led by seven, and the Hogs still held that lead well into the second half before Duke\u2019s final push changed the direction of the game.<\/p>\n
Hogs coach John Calipari said the game showed real growth. Arkansas looked more connected than it had been through the first two weeks of the season and responded every time the Razorbacks were pushed into uncomfortable spots.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were more connected today than they\u2019ve been, which is why we were able to play the way we played,\u201d Calipari said. \u201cNow it\u2019s, \u2018okay, how do you get separation?\u2019 We did. When you get that separation, how do you start putting people away?\u201d<\/p>\n
Calipari pointed to the fundamentals. The Hogs needed more stops and cleaner possessions, but the biggest area for improvement, he said, came down to rebounding.<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally, it\u2019ll come down to defense and rebounding, and then make easy plays on offense,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if you give them a shot, an offensive rebound, come down, bad shot, throw the haymaker three, we are still learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rebounding margin told the story. Arkansas gave up a +8 edge on the glass to Duke, and the Razorbacks allowed 12 offensive rebounds that turned into 25 second-chance points.<\/p>\n
The Hogs defended well in stretches, but the Blue Devils\u2019 size and activity near the rim created too many extra chances.<\/p>\n
Duke freshman Cameron Boozer controlled the night from the start. He scored 35 points and pulled down nine rebounds, posing matchup issues that Arkansas never fully solved.<\/p>\n
The Razorbacks dealt with his length and physicality all evening, and the Hogs had trouble preventing Duke\u2019s frontline from sealing space around the bucket.<\/p>\n
Calipari said the challenge wasn\u2019t just size \u2014 it was effort on every possession.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re really big, and what they do is they keep people around the basket so that if you\u2019re fighting and not trying to get the ball, you\u2019re not getting it,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t fight, you get pushed into the cheerleaders. You got to fight and then go attempt to go get the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the first half, Arkansas found itself caught in between. The Razorbacks fought at times but didn\u2019t secure enough rebounds.<\/p>\n
The Hogs improved in stretches after halftime but still gave Duke too many clean looks.<\/p>\n
Even in a loss, Arkansas saw encouraging play from its young guards. Razorbacks freshman Darius Acuff Jr. scored 21 points, showing patience and confidence in traffic.<\/p>\n
Hogs freshman Meleek Thomas added 13 points, with 11 coming in the second half after a quiet start.<\/p>\n
Thomas looked rushed early, but Calipari said the halftime message was simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeleek showed signs, early in the game it looked like the game was a little big for him,\u201d Calipari said. \u201cAnd I told him at halftime, \u2018you shoot the ball. If you\u2019re open and you don\u2019t shoot it I\u2019m taking you out. You make shots,\u2019 and then he made a couple.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arkansas leaned heavily on its freshmen late.<\/p>\n
The Razorbacks needed their scoring to keep pace with Duke\u2019s guards, and the Hogs continued attacking even as the Blue Devils tightened their defense.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Arkansas Razorbacks guard Darius Acuff Jr. (5) looks to pass the ball against Duke Blue Devils during the first half at United Center. \/ Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Now 5-2, Arkansas returns home for another test. The Razorbacks will host No. 6 Louisville on Tuesday at Bud Walton Arena in the SEC\/ACC Challenge.<\/p>\n
The Hogs continue a demanding early-season stretch that could help shape their NCAA Tournament r\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n
The game against Duke showed where Arkansas is improving. The Razorbacks played connected, moved the ball well, and stayed calm through long swings of momentum.<\/p>\n
The Hogs also learned where they must grow, especially on the boards and on late-possession defensive rotations.<\/p>\n
Louisville presents another major chance to build on those lessons. Arkansas has shown it can compete with elite teams. The next step is finishing.<\/p>\n
Key takeaways<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. \u2014 There are not many nights when a loss teaches as much as a win, but…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":411280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5386,1818],"class_list":{"0":"post-411279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-illinois"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115629124970744795","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}