Arkansas guard Darius Acuff led the No. 20 Razorbacks to a comprehensive 99-84 win over the Texas A&M Aggies on Wednesday evening to improve to 21-7. The talented Acuff tallied 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists in 37 minutes of game time.
After seven SEC Freshman of the Week awards, Acuff finally won his first SEC Player of the Week award after dominant performances against the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Missouri Tigers.
Darius Acuff Reveals Pushing Through Injury Troubles
Acuff has been struggling with an ankle injury and had been wearing a walking boot last week, but he refused to sit out any conference games. Against the Aggies, he had a sluggish start to the game, missing 11 of his first 12 field goal attempts and having only 5 points by the fourth quarter, before exploding to finish with 22 points.
Amid Kansas Jayhawks star Darryn Peterson’s unavailability troubles, Acuff reaffirmed his commitment to the team during a postgame interview on Wednesday.
“The team is more important than myself,” Acuff said. “I want to win for them, I want to play with them, so why not be out there? If I feel like I can play through something, I’m going to play, that’s really the mindset. It’s nothing. I’m good. Just stay in the training room, knowing my body and getting treatment, and just being safe with it.”
Acuff is averaging 22.2 points on 49.9% shooting from the floor, 43% from beyond the arc, 3.1 rebounds, and 6.2 assists for the Razorbacks this season.
During his postgame news conference, Arkansas coach John Calipari fumed over Acuff’s snub from the conversations about this year’s National Player of the Year, despite his stellar performances and playing through injuries.
“I’m a little disappointed, I don’t wanna put more on the kid,” Calipari said. “Why isn’t he in the National Player of the Year equation? What are you saying? He’s averaging as many as most of those people. He’s got six assists, he’s got three rebounds. He’s doing things in the guts of games, maybe they are, but he is too. Why isn’t he being mentioned?”
“And he’s playing when he could probably take some games off. He’s playing anyway. He goes through the shoot-around, and he only does half of it, so he has enough to play the game…'”
Acuff is in the running to become the National Player of the Year alongside BYU Cougars standout AJ Dybantsa and Duke Blue Devils forward Cameron Boozer, who are both expected to also be in the running for the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
