Box Score Breakdown: Arkansas 93, Vanderbilt 68

Box Score Breakdown: Arkansas 93, Vanderbilt 68

Adam Ford

21 Jan, 2026

If only all Razorback games could be played in Fayetteville. Arkansas pounced on the 15th-ranked Commodores and never trailed in a 93-68 blowout win to get to 4-2 in the SEC.

The Razorbacks made some lineup changes, as we expected they would in the preview. Meleek Thomas started in place of DJ Wagner for the first time this season. The result was better games for both Thomas and Wagner, as Wagner played more point guard when he was in the game, which helped get him going. Karter Knox (16 points, 4 rebounds) was fantastic, while Darius Acuff (17 points, 5 assists) bounced back from some rough defensive performances to play very well at both ends. And as you might expect against a smaller opponent, Trevon Brazile (10 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists) was dominant.

It’s the third straight loss for the Commodores (16-3, 3-3 SEC) after peaking at 10th in the AP poll. Vanderbilt is a good team with a good coach, but a 6-foot-7 center isn’t going to cut it in the SEC. Vanderbilt’s lack of height was exposed in a big way, as we’ll see in the advanced stats.

For Arkansas, the Hogs accomplished the goal we gave them: start 4-2 through the first six SEC games. The Razorbacks are now rewarded with a stretch of six straight unranked opponents. Going 6-0 is a real possibility, and anything less than 5-1 would be a disappointment. Arkansas could be 9-3 or 10-2 in conference play by the time a difficult stretch run begins. As rough as the Hogs have looked in their last couple of losses, all their goals remain on the table.

Advanced stats

This game was played at a surprisingly slow pace, which makes Arkansas’ 93 points even more impressive. The Hogs were unstoppable against what has been a solid Vanderbilt defense, scoring 67 points in 53 halfcourt possessions, scoring on 64% of total possessions, and winning points in the paint 50-22. Pretty much every stat here is a massacre.

There are some surprises here. It all comes back to Arkansas’ overwhelming physical advantage. That was the major theme of the preview:

Make them foul. Vanderbilt will use pressure to keep the ball from getting into the paint, where their lack of size becomes a liability. The Hogs cannot be afraid of physicality and need to lean into it, forcing Vanderbilt to foul to keep them out of the lane. Settling for too many jump shots in order to avoid collisions is a quick way to get beat.

Although the emphasis on physicality was correct, I expected it to result in a huge free throw disparity. Instead, the Hogs had one of their lowest free throw rates of the year, as Vanderbilt defenders were mostly not even in position to commit a foul. The Commodores are often handsy with opponents who try to find their way into the paint, but there’s not much you can do when a team has 12 dunks. Arkansas’ ball movement inside the arc was very good in this game. You can see that in both the excellent paint efficiency (53% usage, 74% eFG%) but also in the 68% assist rate, as Vanderbilt came into the game as one of the better teams in the country at preventing assists.

Elevating Thomas to full-time starter is obviously the correct move, as he now has the highest xRAPM on the entire team, passing Brazile after this game. Wagner played just 16 minutes, although he was productive with them and got more opportunities to be the primary ballhandler, which in turn gave Acuff some much-needed help.

While Malique Ewin is still better than Nick Pringle overall, Pringle was fantastic in this game, ranking as Arkansas’ fourth-most-productive player at plus-4.4 net points added. Pringle versus Devin McGlockton was a lopsided affair, with McGlockton finishing minus-22 in his 25 minutes.

And poor Tyler Tanner had a rude awakening. He hasn’t encountered a backcourt as physical as Arkansas’, and it showed.

Lineup math

As a follow-up to the lineup math of the preview, here’s what the Hogs did against Vanderbilt. John Calipari used 15 different lineup combos. Here are the biggest ones:

  • The starting five (Acuff-Thomas-Knox-Brazile-Pringle) played only 10 possessions together, almost all of them to open the game. They outscored Vanderbilt 15-2.
  • The most-used lineup was the the first four with Ewin in for Pringle. It played 22 possessions together and outscored Vanderbilt 31-30.
  • Acuff-Thomas lineups with Wagner on the bench outscored Vanderbilt 51-36 in 38 possessions.
  • Wagner-Thomas lineups with Acuff on the bench outscored Vanderbilt 17-8 in 10 possessions.
  • Wagner-Acuff lineups with Thomas on the bench outscored Vanderbilt 20-15 in 14 possessions.
  • Lineups with all three guards outscored Vanderbilt 7-5 in three possessions.

That’s a very small sample size (one game), but it backs up what we’ve seen all year: Meleek Thomas seems to be the actual plus-minus king on the team. Acuff-Thomas lineups are the best, while Wagner-Thomas lineups are also productive. Acuff-Wagner lineups should be avoided if possible.

Highlights

Up next

A stretch of six straight very winnable games starts Saturday at home against LSU. The Tigers aren’t awful, so the Hogs can’t sleepwalk, but this should be a straightforward win before the trickiest part of this stretch: a road trip to Oklahoma followed by the big Kentucky game at home.

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