Memphis is rolling into Bud Walton Arena with some momentum and a style that should test Arkansas again.
The Tigers already went on the road and beat an SEC team in exhibition play, taking down Mississippi State 75-58 on Friday in Starkville. Now they get No. 12 Arkansas on Wednesday, and John Calipari isn’t pretending this will be anything but a fight.
“I watched the tape,” Arkansas head coach John Calipari said Monday on his radio show. “They're really athletic.
They got a big kid from Poland (24-year-old Nemanja Popovic). He's good.
I watched the tape last night, I'm like, 'Sheesh.' It's another game that's gonna be a war.”
Memphis brings the kind of experience Arkansas just dealt with against Gonzaga. The Tigers have only three freshmen on the roster, with eight players in either their senior season or fifth year of college basketball.
That veteran makeup showed up against Mississippi State, where senior guard Jayden Reid led the way with 26 points on 11-15 shooting. Popovic added 12 points and three steals, while Rihards Vavers chipped in 10 points on 4-6 shooting.
The Tigers were sharp offensively, hitting 29-57 from the field for 50.9 percent and 9-20 from three. They were beaten on the glass 37-32, but their defense kept Mississippi State from ever really settling in.
After a 13-19 season in 2025-26, Memphis looks like a group that believes it has something to prove.
Calipari also wants Bud Walton to bring the same juice it had for Saturday’s 76-72 win over Gonzaga, when 16,436 fans showed up for the exhibition.
“We need to fill that building again,” Calipari said. “I know there's tickets left.
If there are any businesses out there that want to get tickets in a group for their people and give them away, do it. If you haven't bought tickets for the game, come on.
Let's go. You kind of spoiled us.
Now you gotta spoil us again. I think it'll be as exciting as the last game.”
Wednesday also gives Calipari a shot at beating his former school and his friend Penny Hardaway for the second straight year. It’s the second year in a row that Billy Richmond III, whose father Billy Richmond Jr. played for Calipari at Memphis, will face his hometown school. Still, Richmond said Saturday that the matchup isn’t bringing any extra edge.
“No, it's a regular game,” Richmond said. “I mean, I'm gonna have friends and family here, so I just want to put on a good game for them.
That's about it. We just want to get the dub and get ready for the season.
We got one goal.”
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday inside Bud Walton Arena, with coverage on SECN+ and the Razorback Sports Network.
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The focus inside the building, at least publicly, has stayed on the task at hand. Huff has leaned into the challenge Army presents, while quarterback Marcus Stokes pointed to the importance of controlling tempo and matching the opponent's style with a full-team effort after a strong recent showing. For Memphis, the stakes are straightforward enough: stay locked in, handle the pace, and keep the outside chatter from becoming part of the storyline. [Read more 🡒]
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Memphis already got one useful exhibition look when it handled Mississippi State behind a 26-point night from senior guard Jayden Reid, and now the Tigers are walking into a different kind of measuring stick. John Calipari, the former Memphis coach, will have Arkansas on the other sideline at Bud Walton Arena, turning a preseason game into an early test with a little extra edge attached.
Arkansas is coming off a win over Gonzaga and is expected to be one of the stronger teams in the SEC, which makes this a good chance to see how far Memphis has come and how much of Reids early buzz can carry against a tougher opponent. For a team trying to sort out its identity before the games start counting, it is the kind of matchup that can reveal a lot without officially meaning anything in the standings. [Read more 🡒]
Arkansas Gets One More Frontcourt Test As Memphis Waits On Key Big Man
Arkansas is getting one last chance to stress-test its frontcourt before the games count, and Memphis provides a useful measuring stick in the final exhibition. The Tigers will bring forward Nemanja Popovic into the matchup after he turned in a strong showing in an earlier exhibition, giving Arkansas a look at a Memphis interior group that could shape the tone of the night.
For Memphis, the broader issue is less about one exhibition and more about what the roster will look like when the regular season arrives. Popovic is dealing with an NCAA eligibility dispute that could affect his availability, and the Tigers are still sorting through a group that includes several new pieces and possible absences. So while Arkansas gets a clean evaluation of its interior defense, Memphis gets one more chance to see how its frontcourt holds up while the larger picture remains unsettled. [Read more 🡒]