Hawai'i isn't scared of Arkansas' Darius Acuff Jr. ahead of NCAA Tournament bout

Arkansas freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. enters Thursday's NCAA Tournament Round of 64 matchup against 13-seed Hawai'i on the heels of being named a first-team All-American, SEC Player of the Year and MVP of the SEC Tournament. 

But Acuff's myriad accolades and a stat line of 22.9 points and 6.5 assists per game won't make the Rainbow Warriors lose any sleep at night.

"Honestly, we're not scared of anybody," senior guard Dre Bullock said when asked about Acuff Jr. "Anybody we play, we're still going to play our same Hawai'i basketball."

Darius Acuff Jr. could feast on Hawai'i defense

That Hawai'i basketball features a defense that rarely offers help. The Rainbow Warriors often leave their defenders on an island — which clearly has worked so far, as Hawai'i went 24-8 and won the Big West Conference Tournament to make the Big Dance. 

But the Warriors played only two Power Four programs, Oregon and Arizona State, all season, and they have yet to face a player such as Acuff who is so dangerous offensively.

Acuff scored 37, 24 and 30 points, respectively, in Arkansas' three-game run against Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt to win the SEC Tournament. Acuff has scored 20 or more points in 23 games this season and has yet to be held to single digits in his freshman campaign.

"[It] should be a good matchup," Bullock said. "I'm excited, everybody's excited to guard him. Got a game plan, just going to stick to it. We'll be good."

Hawai'i head coach Eran Ganot made sure not to give Acuff Jr. any bulletin board material ahead of Thursday's contest.

"You have a lot of respect for him from afar, and then as you study him, it just grows," Ganot said. "How can you not respect him from afar?"

Arkansas and Hawai'i will tip off from the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, at approximately 4:25 p.m. ET Thursday, with coverage on TBS.