'They have children': John Calipari not worried about Hawai'i's experience in NCAA Tournament

Arkansas head coach John Calipari's team is led by a pair of phenomenal freshmen in Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas, but the Razorbacks will be met by a Hawai'i team in Thursday's NCAA Tournament Round of 64 matchup that features eight seniors. 

But Calipari isn't worried that his squad's relative lack of experience will be a huge detriment as Arkansas looks to advance to the Round of 32 with a win over the Rainbow Warriors on Thursday afternoon.

John Calipari on Arkansas' experience

"They have children, they're older," Calipari said of Hawai'i's roster. "They're mentally more equipped to go through this stuff. But I've started five freshmen before, and we got to a Final Four, matter of fact, [the] final game."

"This year we're starting two freshmen. We're going to play the best players. We've played some older teams. It's harder. They've been through the wars. There's things they've experienced that an 18-year-old has not experienced."

Calipari noted that the NCAA Tournament is where a lack of experience could bite young players the most.

"This is one game. You play bad, you lose."

Still, Arkansas should have enough talent to overcome the Rainbow Warriors' experience and advance to a second-round matchup against either Wisconsin or High Point on Saturday. Tip-off between Arkansas and Hawai'i is set for 4:25 p.m. ET Thursday.