Part of the beauty of March Madness is watching the underdogs knock off big name teams with storied histories and stacked rosters. For the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, they’re hoping to be one of the next March Madness Cinderellas as they prepare to face off against Arkansas in the round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament.
It’s a daunting challenge for Hawaii, considering Arkansas has arguably the best player in the NCAA Tournament in freshman star Darius Acuff Jr. But Hawaii is up for the challenge as they get set to tip-off March Madness, according to senior guard Dre Bullock.
“It’s a great challenge for us. . .our coaches broke it down. He’s been seeing a lot of attention, he’s a good player,” Bullock said during a recent press conference. “Honestly, we’re not scared of anybody. Anybody we play, we’re still gonna play our same Hawaii basketball.
“We’re gonna compete to the very end, before the end of the game. It should be a good matchup, I’m excited. Everyone is excited to guard him. Got a game plan, we’re just gonna stick to it, still play our game and trust our coaches, trust our players around us to help defend and we’ll be good.”
Hawaii comes into the game having claimed the Big West Tournament championship and finishing with an overall record of 24-8. Arkansas comes into the game having finished second in the SEC with an overall record of 26-8, and ranked No. 14 in the country.
Acuff has been the engine for Arkansas, and he’s played his way into being a probable high lottery pick in the NBA Draft. Slowing him down will be no simple task for Hawaii. Coming into the NCAA Tournament, he’s been averaging 22.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 6.5 assists with splits of 48.6 percent shooting from the field, 44.5 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 80.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
