From Over The Weekend: Houston’s statement win against Arkansas at The Rock

Image Credit: Houston Men's Basketball

NEWARK, NJ — Two College Basketball coaching legends squared off in the Garden State this past Saturday, with Kelvin Sampson taking on John Calipari.

Sampson brought his 10-1 Houston Cougars to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey to face off against Calipari’s 9-2 Arkansas Razorbacks. Sampson has been at the helm for 11 years with the Cougars, while this season marks Calipari’s second with the Razorbacks. It was also a homecoming of sorts for Calipari since he coached the New Jersey Nets from 1996 to 1999.

Saturday’s matchup, a 5:30PM ET tip, had more meaning than usual because it was the eighth annual edition of the Never Forger Tribute Classic, which is hosted by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. The yearly event has supported various 9/11-related charities and will do so once again in 2026.

The crowd at The Rock heavily favored the Razorbacks, but that didn’t faze the Cougars at all as they jumped out to a 40-19 lead after a three-pointer from guard Isiah Harwell with 9:34 remaining in the first half. Arkansas responded by cutting the deficit to 49-41 on a 22-9 run.

Throughout the first 20 minutes, Houston was paced by guards Ramon Walker Jr. and Kingston Flemings, who each scored nine points. On the Razorbacks’ side, guard Darius Acuff Jr. did everything he could to keep them in the game with 16 first half points.

In the second half, the Cougars weren’t fazed. Especially the freshman Flemings, showing why he is a projected lottery pick in next June’s NBA draft, with 21 points. 

Acuff Jr. continued his outstanding play for Arkansas, leading all scorers with 27 points. And with the deficit cut to seven at 51-44 out of the half, the freshman hit a three pointer with 19:09, which was the closest the Razorbacks would get to for the remainder of the game as they fell by a final of 94-85. 

Sampson opened up Houston’s postgame press conference with the respect he has for Arkansas then provided his input on the potential the Razorbacks heading into 2026: 

“Yeah, well, this is the best team we’ve played to this point. We played Auburn early. We played Auburn in Birmingham. So we played Auburn, Syracuse, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Florida State, and Arkansas. Arkansas, they’re going to be good. And they’re going to get better. You got Thomas Acuff, the left handed kid, (Billy Richman III), Richman gets dynamic. I mean, they’re pieces. They have really, really good pieces in this. You know, we’re not into christenship, but we’re going to get better and better. I think Arkansas has as good a chance as anybody that we might be in the SEC this year.”

It is noteworthy that Sampson said Arkansas was tougher than No. 19 Tennessee (9-3) since that was the Cougars’ only loss this season—a 76-73 loss on November 25th in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

A major difference for Houston compared to several elite programs across the country is their retention rate in the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) era. It has become extremely rare for players to stay at one school for four years due to offers elsewhere, but their team has remained largely intact, with only one bench player lost in the transfer portal this past offseason. 

The majority of their unit returned for 2025-2026 after appearing in the Final Four together last season with four starters remaining from a year ago. 

Updated AP Rankings

Arkansas (9-3) dropped down to the 18th spot on the Associated Press’ Top 25 rankings, which were released on Monday, December 22nd, while Houston (11-1) stayed in eighth.

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