Thanksgiving is all about family, and that couldn’t be more true as No. 19 Arkansas and Illinois squared off in Kansas City as part of college basketball’s highly-anticipated “Feast Week.” The Illini came out on top by a score of 90-77 thanks to a scorching offensive performance, and an equally bad defensive day for the Razorbacks.
Illinois shot 52.6% from the field and hit a whopping 15 threes at a 48.4% clip. The Illini never trailed, and held a lead as large as 17 at one point. The Hogs cut the deficit to single digits on multiple occasions, but the men in orange responded every time to squash the momentum. Adou Thiero led the Hogs with 26 points on 7-13 shooting from the field and was a workhorse driving to the rack, earning 21 free throw attempts (but only converting 12 of them). Billy Richmond III was a spark plug off the bench for Arkansas, scoring 12 points on an efficient 6-9 shooting.
Both teams entered the holiday neutral-site clash sporting 5-1 records, with a litany of recent history and familial connections between the two programs. The most obvious is Zvonimir Ivisic facing off against his twin brother Tomislav, Illinois’ 7-foot-1 starting center averaging 15.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Tomislav won the battle in this one, finishing with 21 points and 10 rebounds and nailing six threes. Big Z finished with 13 points and six rebounds.
The connections continue on the two teams’ coaching staffs, too. A notable offseason storyline as Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari constructed his inaugural staff was whether or not assistant coach Orlando Antigua would follow him from Kentucky to Arkansas. Antigua had worked under Calipari at UK from 2021-24 after a stint at Illinois from 2017-21. In the end, he decided to reunite with Illinois head coach Brad Underwood instead.
“The chance to work with Brad again,” Antigua said of what drew him back to the Fighting Illini. “The things that we were able to do here the first time around was special, and we got the thing going. Obviously, my family and I continued to watch and support throughout the years that we weren’t here, and I just think we have a really good deep friendship between everybody here on the staff, so it made sense.”
Calipari is renowned for his connection-based “La Familia” approach to his basketball operations, with his teams and coaching staffs always featuring numerous ties (often biological) to previous players and assistants. Look no further than DJ Wagner and Adou Thiero, whose fathers both played for Coach Cal at Memphis, and Karter Knox, whose older brother starred at Kentucky.
But on the topic of caricature-level Italian references, it appears Underwood has taken a page out of Cal’s book with what he thinks of Antigua.
“I call ‘O’ kind of the ‘godfather’ of college basketball in terms of being an assistant coach,” he said. “He’s one of the great, great connectors of people, fabulous coach as well, but a guy that has proven his worth in terms of what he’s done, recruiting at every stop along the way. Obviously his latest stop being at Kentucky, some of the top recruiting classes in the country. Excited to have him join the fold.”
While the allure of a return to Champaign was too much for Antigua to resist, Calipari succeeded in convincing assistant coach Chin Coleman to follow him from Kentucky to Arkansas. For the last seven years, Coleman had been on the same staffs as Antigua — 2017-21 at Illinois, 2021-24 at Kentucky. But in this case, Chin decided to bring his pinstriped suits and coaching expertise to serve as essentially Calipari’s consigliere at Arkansas with the title of associate head coach.
Coleman and Antigua aren’t related by blood, but they are very much members of the same college basketball familia.
Pregame Tidbits
Illinois and Arkansas actually share some common opponents at this early point in the season that can serve as a frame of reference through the good ol’ transitive property. Both programs have faced Little Rock and Maryland-Eastern Shore. While the Hogs had to scrap and claw against a second-half comeback charge by the Trojans, only managing an 11-point win, the Fighting Illini handed them a 92-34 drubbing.
Arkansas’ matchup against UMES was the first time this season the Hogs put together a complete 40-minute performance, resulting in a historic 109-35 blowout. Illinois, by contrast, “only” managed to win 87-40. The Illini’s lone loss of the season came in a 100-87 defeat against No. 8 Alabama, while Arkansas fell against an (also) 8th-ranked Baylor team. After losing their first tests against high-major opposition, both teams were looking for redemption in today’s matchup.
In addition to the Ivisic brothers squabbling in the paint, keep an eye on Illinois’ impressive freshman duo of Will Riley and Kasparas Jakucionis. Riley, who Arkansas pursued at one point, reclassified from 2025 to 2024 and has had a lightning start to his college career. Mostly coming off the bench as a sixth man, he leads the team in scoring with 17.2 points per game, shooting 54.8% from behind the arc. Jakucionis, Illinois’ other Eastern European stud, is averaging an impressive all-around stat line of 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Arkansas’ guards will have their hands full trying to stop the 6-foot-6 standout.
It appears Arkansas might have big man Jonas Aidoo back in the fold today, as he was taking part in warmups a couple hours before tipoff. This comes after Trevon Brazile returned to action against UMES on Monday. If Aidoo is good to go today, he would bring the Hogs back to full health in their nine-man core.
LIVE UPDATES: Arkansas vs Illinois
15:38, 1H – Illinois 11, Arkansas 2
Zvonimir Ivisic won the battle of the twins on the opening tipoff, but Illinois came out of the gates hot with a trio of threes and a layup to open up an 11-0 lead. Two of the triples came from Tomislav, but Zvonimir responded by slamming down an alley oop to get the Hogs on the board. Arkansas was sloppy in the opening minutes, turning the ball over three times — including a travel and stepping out of bounds on the baseline.
11:19, 1H – Illinois 23, Arkansas 12
Coming out of the break, Zvonimir blocked his brother’s corner three attempt, on top of picking Tomislav’s pocket a few minutes ago. No love lost between the twins so far. But the Illini continued their scorching start to this game, courtesy of the Hogs’ loose pick and roll defense. Illinois is shooting 5-8 from behind the arc (62.5) with a pair of treys from both Ivisic and Humrichous. That forced Calipari to call a timeout down 21-6.
A pair of hustle plays from freshman guard Billy Richmond III showed signs of life for the Razorbacks, as he converted a putback off an offensive rebound and converts a fastbreak lay-in. Arkansas is up to six team fouls already, which will set the Illini for a number of free throw attempts later in the half.
7:23, 1H – Illinois 25, Arkansas 16
Jonas Aidoo checks in for Arkansas after injury issues have limited his first month of the season. Back-to-back turnovers from DJ Wagner and Karter Knox, but the Illini have been sloppy in their own right with five turnovers. The Hogs are now 0-7 from behind the arc after another trio of misses.
Richmond continues to be the spark plug for Arkansas with another aggressive drive for a layup to cut the deficit to single digits.
3:51, 1H – Illinois 37, Arkansas 26
Jakucionis hit a circus shot over Aidoo’s contest to put Illinois back up 11. Thiero earned trips to the free throw line with a pair of strong drives, but goes 2-4 from the charity stripe. Substitute Jake White drills a corner three, but Wagner responded with a tough finish at the rack. Aidoo’s paint defense forced an airball on an Ivisic hook shot, but he dragged him out of the paint and drilled a three on the next possession. He’s up to double figures already.
Aidoo got switched onto guard Kylan Boswell on the perimeter, who converted a dribble drive into a three-points play to stretch the lead to 15. Richmond responded again with an acrobatic layup, the hoop and the harm. He’s got a free throw after the break.
HALFTIME: Illinois 49, Arkansas 34
Richmond reaches double figures with another layup. He’s an efficient 5-7 from the field. Will Riley gets on the scoreboard with a triple to continue Illinois’ three-point barrage. It’s turned into a foul-fest here in Kansas City, with both teams in the double bonus and almost every possession ending in a whistle. Tomislav Ivisic hits yet another open three on a poor closeout. Aidoo rejected a Riley layup out of bounds, but he found a nifty baseline pass to set up Jakucionis to extend the lead back to 15.
Thiero is up to 10 free throw attempts on the day, but he’s missed four of them. A combined 22 team fouls so far puts both teams in trouble for the second half.
Illinois just misses the half-century mark, but puts up 49 points on a blazing 9-16 (57.3) from behind the arc. Arkansas, by contrast, is 0-7 from deep. That’s the story of the first half. Tomislav Ivisic leads all scorers with 13 points, Ironically, he’s been better from three (4-7) than from inside (0-3). Richmond leads the Hogs in scoring with 10 points.
14:41, 2H – Illinois 59, Arkansas 48
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Tomislav Ivisic has hit another three-pointer. Wagner converts a tough up-and-under layup on the big Croatian. It took nearly 23 minutes of game time, but Arkansas has finally hit its first three, courtesy of Zvonimir Ivisic at the top of the key. Unfortunately, a sloppy backcourt turnover gives Illinois an easy bucket on the next possession. The Hogs have been called for four fouls already in the first 3:26 of the second half.
Big Z pinned a shot on the backboard with what looked like perfect timing, but the officials called goaltending anyways. He takes his frustration out with a tough slam and another three on back-to-back possessions. Boogie Fland takes it to the rack for a nice finish, and he’s got a chance for a three-point play to cut the deficit to 10 after the break.
10:13, 2H – Illinois 69, Arkansas 57
Morez Johnson gets the rebound and the putback over Big Z. A sloppy ensuing possession results in Arkansas’ 10th turnover of the game. The Hogs get a goaltending call of their own after Thiero spins to the basket for a nice finger roll. Illinois picks up a shot clock violation after Arkansas finally strings together a solid defensive possession. Thiero draws yet another foul and hits both his free throws this time, then throws down a two-handed jam to cut the deficit down to 10. He’s up to 16 points on the day.
Trevon Brazile announces himself by draining a three after nobody steps up to contest, but Humrichous quiets the noise with a triple of his own.
7:31, 2H – Illinois 75, Arkansas 62
Thiero misses both free throws once again coming out of the timeout, and Tomislav Ivisic drills his 6th three of the game to push the gap back to 15. Johnell Davis hits a three to finally get on the scoreboard. Prior to that he was scoreless with just one field goal attempt, but he leads the team in assists with five dimes. Fland picks up his 4th foul of the day on a nothing burger of a call.
Thiero throws down another flush, but Jakucionis responds with a tough layup over Big Z’s contest. Every time the Hogs flirt with momentum, the Illini extinguish it with a bucket.
3:49, 2H – Illinois 80, Arkansas 71
Big Z swished a three-pointer over his brother, and then Tomislav picked up an offensive foul for throwing an arm into Thiero. Jakucionis gets Ivisic on an island and hits a nice stepback three. Thiero converts a layup with a strong hop step to get up to 20 points.
The 6-foot-8 wing draws yet another foul, and he’s now up to 18 free throw attempts — as many as Illinois has as a team. Richmond intercepts a pass and throws down a left-handed slam to cut the deficit down to single-digits. But, of course, the Illini draw a foul at the other end and will have two shots after the break.
FINAL: Illinois 90, Arkansas 77
Jakucionis hits both free throws and Big Z turns it over on the other end. The Lithuanian then drains another three to stretch the lead to 14. That’s the nail in the coffin.
Brazile gets a nice putback dunk for a consolation highlight, but Johnson picks up an offensive rebound and converts the layup. Calipari calls timeout. With a 14-point advantage, the Illini have entered clock-draining mode. They bleed out the remaining time and come away with a double-digit victory.
Starting Lineups
| Arkansas Basketball | Illinois Basketball |
|---|---|
| G – Boogie Fland – #2 | G – Kasparas Jakucionis – #32 |
| G – DJ Wagner – #21 | G – Kylan Boswell – #4 |
| G – Johnell Davis – #1 | G – Tre White – #22 |
| F – Adou Thiero – #3 | F – Ben Humrichous – #3 |
| F – Zvonimir Ivisic – #44 | F – Tomislav Ivisic – #15 |
How to Watch Arkansas vs Illinois
When: Thursday, Nov. 28 (Thanksgiving Day)
Where: T-Mobile Center (Kansas City, Mo.)
Tipoff Time: 3 p.m. CT
TV: CBS
Betting Line: Illinois -2.5 (ESPN)
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Aaron Torres previews the Arkansas vs Illinois matchup:
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