Meleek Thomas Breaks Out in Razorbacks’ Blowout Win, Just in Time for SEC Play
For the last few games, Arkansas freshman guard Meleek Thomas had looked like a player searching for answers. The shot wasn’t falling, the confidence seemed shaken, and for a brief stretch, the spark that made him one of the most exciting young guards in the country had dimmed.
But Monday night? That was a different story entirely.
Thomas torched the nets for 28 points in No. 18 Arkansas’ 103-74 win over James Madison, snapping out of a three-game shooting slump with the kind of performance that reminds you why he’s so highly regarded. He drilled six of his 10 attempts from beyond the arc and looked every bit the offensive weapon Arkansas will need heading into SEC play.
Let’s put this in context: over his previous three outings, Thomas totaled just 18 points on 6-of-27 shooting (22.2%), including a cold 3-of-14 from deep. He hadn’t cracked double digits in any of those games - the only three times all season he’d failed to do so. But by halftime Monday night, he’d already matched that three-game output, dropping 18 points in just 12 first-half minutes on 5-of-8 shooting and 4-of-6 from three.
It wasn’t just the numbers - it was the energy. The body language.
The confidence. Thomas looked like a player who had hit the reset button over the holiday break, and Arkansas head coach John Calipari saw it coming.
“His practices since he came back, he was back to being aggressive and taking plays,” Calipari said postgame. “I told him, ‘I’m gonna let you make plays. You just can’t go crazy 25 times, but there could be a couple times a half, and I want you to play.’”
Calipari’s message wasn’t just about shot selection - it was about mindset. He wanted Thomas to stop second-guessing and start trusting the work he’d put in. That trust showed up in a big way Monday night.
“I’ve been on him about his shooting,” Calipari added. “He’s trying to beg the ball in.
You can’t. Just shoot it.
If it goes, it goes.”
Thomas clearly took that to heart. And it wasn’t just him - the entire team seemed to rally around the idea of getting their freshman scorer back on track. Darius Acuff, DJ Wagner, and the rest of the Razorbacks made a concerted effort to feed Thomas early, and the results were immediate.
Wagner, who dished out four assists - two of them to Thomas - spoke about the unselfishness that defines this Arkansas group.
“Everybody on the team is unselfish, and I feel like that’s what makes us a special team,” Wagner said. “If somebody’s got it going, like Meleek had it going tonight - I mean, that’s who he is. In our eyes, he’s gonna make every shot he takes.”
And when Thomas is hitting shots like that, it changes the entire dynamic for the Razorbacks. Defenses have to stretch to guard him on the perimeter, which opens up driving lanes and creates opportunities for everyone else.
“He makes the game totally easier for all of us,” Wagner added. “If they don’t guard him at the three, he’s gonna make that.
If they go out there to try to guard him, he’s gonna go past and make a play. He makes all of us better.”
The bounce-back didn’t come out of nowhere. Thomas said his routine never changed, even during the slump. While others were enjoying the holiday break, he was in the gym - staying locked in, staying ready.
“My work never changes,” Thomas said. “Wake up, go to the gym, at night end up in the gym.
Over the break, I was just in the gym, in the gym, in the gym. My work’s never going to change.”
That kind of mentality is what separates good players from great ones. Slumps are inevitable - especially for freshmen adjusting to the pace and physicality of college basketball. But the ones who come out of it stronger usually do so because they never stop putting in the work.
“If I have a bad shooting night, it’s not going to be for long,” Thomas said. “Because I know the preparation is always there.”
With non-conference play now in the rearview mirror, Arkansas finishes that stretch with a 10-3 record. But the real test begins now.
The SEC slate kicks off with a heavyweight matchup as No. 19 Tennessee comes to Bud Walton Arena.
Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. CST, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
If Monday night was any indication, Meleek Thomas is ready for the spotlight - and so are the Razorbacks.