Arkansas finishes Bahamas tour with a flourish, wins by 57

Arkansas basketball played four games over the past several days in the Baha Mar Hoops Summit. The Bahamas wasn't a vacation spot for the Razorbacks. They put in a lot of work, and it's hard not to be impressed by the overall product. UA concluded its four-game set by clobbering Calgary, 105-48, on Tuesday.

Arkansas fans are going to have a great time getting used to the reality that the Hogs are hungry on defense. This team always gets after it at that end of the floor. It held another opponent under 50 points after doing so with Toros del Valle the previous day. That's truly the number one takeaway from this Bahamas basketball blitz: Arkansas plays defense, far better than what last season's team did.

Some really good specific things, beyond the defense itself, unfolded on Tuesday against Calgary. Big man Caleb Ourigou pulled down 16 points in an emphatic performance on the glass. Remember: Ourigou reclassified from the Class of 2027 to the Class of 2026. He's very young. He easily could have chosen to play high school ball this upcoming academic cycle. Instead, he took the plunge and showed faith in John Calipari. That faith is being rewarded, and it could lead to Ourigou being the opening night starting big instead of Furman transfer Cooper Bowser. Snapping down rebounds left and right will get the attention of the coaching staff, not just fans and analysts.

Another big performance against Calgary came from JJ Andrews, who made 9 of his first 10 field goals and each of his first three 3-point shots. He finished with a very efficient 24 points. Part of the buzz surrounding this Arkansas roster is that it has competent shooters, though we need to see this group function against strong college opponents before we become comfortable and certain in pronouncing this as a quality shooting team.

Another standout in this game was Abdou Toure, who went 10 of 14 from the field. You can do the quick math there and realize that's over 70 percent shooting, a crisp performance which, if replicated consistently, will win a lot of games for the Razorbacks.

One more player worth noting from the Calgary game is Jeremiah Wilkinson, who dished out nine assists. Wilkinson is obviously a capable and talented scorer, as we saw earlier in this Bahamas series when he scored 26 points. Showing the ability to facilitate offense and get others involved is a great sign for John Calipari and this team. Wilkinson being able to produce as a passer, not just a shooter, gives this offense more variety and unpredictability, a tremendously positive development going into October preseason practice.

Arkansas basketball checked a lot of boxes this past week. The great part: This is only just the beginning. So much more development can - and likely will - happen with this group.