Top 25 And 1: Arkansas’ star freshman Darius Acuff Jr. is carrying Razorbacks

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As a statistical monster for the nation’s top-ranked team, Duke star Cameron Boozer is probably going to be everybody’s national player of the year, and deservedly so. He’s been incredible for an incredible team.

He’d get my vote this morning.

But if the question is about which player is best equipped to put a team on his shoulders and take it somewhere in the NCAA Tournament bracket that exceeds his team’s season and seed, that dude is Darius Acuff Jr. The freshman at Arkansas went big again Friday. He took 21 shots, made 11 of them and finished with 37 points, five assists and five rebounds in an 82-79 win over Oklahoma that likely popped the Sooners’ bubble while advancing the Razorbacks to Saturday’s semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

“I know he’s been compared to a lot of NBA guys, as he should,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said heading into his quarterfinal matchup with Acuff and Arkansas. “He just has like that Derrick Rose, Allen Iverson speed — with power. And he makes the right pass. For a young guy, he doesn’t get sped-up too much. He can score at all three levels. He can get to the rim at ease. He can hit you and get some separation on a pull-up. And he’s got deep range. He’s phenomenal.”

How many SEC coaches do we need to hear say something like this about Acuff before we all properly appreciate what we’re watching? (Here’s what Texas coach Sean Miller said about Acuff last week.) The projected top-10 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft is now averaging 22.7 points and 6.4 assists for an Arkansas team that’s 15th in Saturday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Duke remains No. 1 for the 21st consecutive day following Friday’s win over Clemson.

Duke will now meet Virginia in the championship game of the ACC Tournament in one of three power-conference title games scheduled for Saturday. The others are Arizona-Houston in the Big 12 Tournament and St. John’s-UConn in the Big East Tournament.