Razorbacks Escape Chaos as Arkansas, Winthrop Game Turns Ugly

John Calipari’s Razorbacks needed a late surge and an on-court scrum to ‘go their way’ to escape with a win against Winthrop on Tuesday night in a wild dust-up that had fans divided.

Divided over who was responsible for the headlocks, tumbling, and double-technical foul calls that resulted in four players getting ejected with 11.9 seconds left in the game.

Tuesday night at Bud Walton Arena, Arkansas was against the ropes late, down 83-82 with Winthrop in possession as regulation entered its final minute. 

Arkansas was clawing back from an 83-78 deficit under two minutes.

However, Arkansas pressed Winthrop’s Logan Duncomb into a turnover, which ended in a fastbreak, go-ahead layup by Nick Pringle on the other end.

As Duncomb, frustrated by the turnover, grabbed the ball under the rim, he got tangled up with Pringle. He appeared to hold Pringle in a loose headlock, prompting some pushback from Pringle, and both players went tumbling down in what looked like a wrestling match in real time.

Underneath the scrum was a Winthrop player who likely played a role in tripping up the pair.

Duncomb went down with Pringle, but Pringle held on and gave Duncomb a second shove, giving the Razorback some blame as well.

Players and officials separated the two with 11.9 seconds still left and the Razorbacks up.

Officials called a double dead-ball technical on the tussling players, and four in total were ejected for rushing onto the court.

No free throws were awarded either way, Winthrop missed its final shot, and Arkansas narrowly escaped with the 84-83 win.

FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS - Head Coach John Calipari of the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

After the game, Nick Pringle brushed off the scene, calling it something that happened in the heat of the moment.

"Just a high-intensity game," Pringle said afterward. "Things happen. I don’t think it was anything really serious or intense, it was just all in the moment."

Pringle acknowledged putting his team at risk of losing despite his go-ahead score.

"Definitely apologized to my team going back to the huddle. Can’t have those in bigger games. So just live and learn from it, and that’s all we can do right now."

Reactions were split down the middle, with some calling Duncomb "salty" for turning the ball over and meeting Pringle on the other side of the court for the scrum. 

Others were reluctant to take Pringle’s side, saying he pushed into Duncomb, causing him to fall over his Winthrop teammate and spark the skirmish.

"Hard not to react when somebody has you in a headlock and tries to take you to the ground," one fan argued on X.

Pringle’s detractors turned the discussion into an SEC nepotism accusation.

A fan defending Winthrop said, "Pro-Arkansas announcers on this ESPN+ broadcast doing some serious mental gymnastics to figure out how Pringle could not get charged with a flagrant here."

Fair or not, Arkansas escaped with the win, improving to 4-1.

Who started the fight? Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com