Kansas opened its 2024-25 campaign with an exhibition in Fayetteville, Arkansas, falling at the hands of the now John Calipari-led Arkansas Razorbacks 85-69. The Jayhawks felt the absences of Hunter Dickinson, Rylan Griffen, and Shakeel Moore as they struggled to score and defend an athletic Razorbacks group.

The exhibition featured four quarters instead of the traditional two halves and players were unable to foul out.

The returnees who did play were the major factors offensively. Dajuan Harris was the lone consistent scorer, leading the team with 26 points. KJ Adams added nine, and Rakease Passmore provided a spark in the second half. The freshman finished with 11 points, with eight coming after halftime.

First quarter

DJ Wagner got Arkansas going early, hitting two threes as part of eight early points. After looking out-of-sync on the offensive end early, Kansas battled back with a three from Zeke Mayo and dunk from KJ Adams out of the short roll.

The Razorbacks extended their lead to 16-9 after an off-glass lob from Boogie Fland to Trevon Brazile. The Jayhawks answered with a five-point swing, with Dajuan Harris hitting a corner three and Adams throwing down another dunk after coming up with a loose ball.

Fland looked dynamic early, distributing the ball and knocking down some mid-range pull-ups. Kansas' offense hit a lull in the late portions of the quarter, being held scoreless for the last 2:57.

Arkansas held a 25-17 lead at the end of the first thanks to a 7-2 run primarily from the free throw line. Rakease Passmore made a nice move to the basket for the only Jayhawk points in the final three minutes.

Second quarter

The two team's big men battled it out early in the second quarter, with Flory Bidunga scoring six straight for Kansas including finishing a lob from Harris. Zvonimir Ivisic nailed a three from the top of the key as Arkansas remained in the lead.

The Razorbacks rattled off a 7-2 run as Wagner remained the team's leading scoring threat. Karter Knox scored in transition to give Arkansas a 37-25 advantage, leading to a timeout from Bill Self with 5:13 to play.

Arkansas went on a 2:30 scoring drought out of the timeout, missing its next four shots. However, Kansas couldn't take too much advantage, with two buckets from Harris cutting the deficit to eight.

Fland went on a 6-0 run by himself to give the Razorbacks a comfortable 42-29 lead. Harris answered with a three, but it didn't spark much as Arkansas took a 45-33 lead into the half. Kansas struggled to find consistent scoring outside of Harris, who had 10 points at the break. Fland and Wagner combined for 27 of Arkansas' 45.

Third quarter

Arkansas extended a comfortable lead with Kansas not being able to get anything going offensively. The Razorbacks scored the first six points of the second half before Harris quieted things momentarily with a three.

The sloppiness that was expected out of an exhibition game surfaced, with neither team looking super poised on offense. Both team's struggled from outside, but Arkansas' athleticism allowed the Razorbacks to find success at the basket. Arkansas led 56-38 midway through the third.

Johnell Davis hit a three to put Arkansas ahead by 20, 61-41. Passmore scored five for the Jayhawks, including a three, but Kansas still remained unable to cut into the lead.

Harris and Passmore eached scored a basket in the final minute of the third, with Arkansas holding a 65-50 advantage heading into the fourth.

Fourth quarter

Harris remained the Jayhawks' bright spot offensively, scoring the first 11 points of the quarter. He helped Kansas cut into the lead somewhat, still trailing 73-61 with four minutes to play.

However, Arkansas responded right back after blowing up two straight dribble handoffs, leading to transition buckets for Fland and Wagner. Turnovers were a problem throughout the game for Kansas, with the Jayhawks finishing with 17.

The Razorbacks' lead got back up to 18 after Ivisic hit his second three of the game. Arkansas closed out a comfortable win.