FAYETTEVILLE — To say the first half of Arkansas vs Troy was ugly would be an understatement.
The Trojans had more turnovers (12) than made field goals (11), but thanks to five separate scoring droughts of two-plus minute by the Razorbacks, they held a one-point lead at the break.
Despite watching his team lead for all of 32 seconds and being down two big men because of injuries, Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari came out of the locker room with the kind of calm confidence you’d expect from a Hall of Famer with more than 800 wins on his resume.
We’re going to be okay, Calipari said — to no one in particular, but within earshot of UA radio play-by-play man Chuck Barrett — just before the start of the second half.
Even though the Razorbacks shot 29.4% (10 of 34) and made only 2 of 11 (18.2%) attempts from beyond the arc in the first half, Calipari liked the looks his team was getting and believed the shots would eventually fall.
Sure enough, Arkansas (2-1) came out firing and turned its one-point deficit into a 65-49 victory over a pesky Troy team that was picked to finish third in the Sun Belt. It was a scorching 14 of 22 (63.6%) from the floor — including 8 of 12 (66.7%) from deep — after halftime.
“We were doing everything right,” Calipari said. “We were moving the ball, we had it, boop, wide open, miss. Everything inside-out, the guy has it, miss. Another one here, miss. I was ready to strangle myself. Like, come on.”
The key stretch came about three minutes into the second half, as the Razorbacks used a 12-2 run to take the lead for good. Zvonimir Ivisic knocked down a 3 to tie it up and start the run and then a couple of fast breaks — resulting in a Johnell Davis layup and Boogie Fland 1-of-2 trip to the free throw line — to put Arkansas on top.
The Razorbacks put their foot on Troy’s neck a few minutes later with a separate 7-0 run over an electric 35-second span that almost exclusively featured Fland and Adou Thiero.
It began with Fland throwing an alley-oop to Adou Thiero, continued with Fland notching a steal and throwing it ahead to Thiero for another dunk, and was capped — after a steal by Ivisic — with Thiero returning the favor by finding Fland in the corner for a 3.
Here are a few takeaways from the win over Troy…
Big Z’s Historic Stat Line
John Calipari had a plan for Zvonimir Ivisic this season. He didn’t want his 7-foot-2 big man hanging out on the perimeter, chunking up 3s. Instead, the legendary coach wanted Ivisic to do damage inside the arc.
Those plans were blown to bits Wednesday night, as the Croatian knocked down 6 of 7 attempts from deep en route to scoring a career-high 19 points.
“What I did find out today — which I kind of knew, (and) I hate that — but Z’s probably got to take five, six threes a game,” Calipari admitted afterward.
Bombing 3s was just part of a complete performance by Ivisic. Rocking a fresh buzz cut and headband, he added 5 blocks, 3 steals and 2 rebounds. With the new look, the sophomore was plus-17 in 22 minutes, which means the Razorbacks were minus-1 in the 18 minutes he was on the bench.
Indeed, Ivisic became the first player in NCAA history to rack up 6 threes, 5 blocks and 3 steals in a single game That’s particularly impressive because it followed a rough outing against Baylor, which led to Calipari telling him for two days leading up to the Troy game that he had lost his starting spot because he didn’t deserve it.
“My message to him is you better get in there and rebound and block shots and fight,” Calipari said. “You can’t do what you did at Baylor, where the guy wedged you out, grabbed the ball and laid it in.”
Ivisic responded by putting together a truly historic stat line for the Razorbacks. Consider these nuggets, which were discovered with the help of Stathead:
- He is the first player in SEC history — and just the fourth in DI history — with at least six 3-pointers and five blocked shots in the same game. Others to hit those marks were LIU’s Tyrn Flowers in 2022, ULM’s Majok Deng in 2016 and Houston’s Dion Dowell in 2007.
- Those three players combined for two total steals. Ivisic had three. If you lower the threshold to five 3-pointers, while also requiring five blocks and three steals, only two DI players had ever done that in a game — Chattanooga’s Jake Stephens in 2022 and Virginia’s Justin Anderson in 2013.
- Disregarding the 3-pointers, Ivisic is just the second SEC player in nine seasons with at least 15 points, 5 blocks and 3 steals in the same game. The other was Auburn’s Walker Kessler (20 points, 7 blocks, 4 steals) against Ole Miss in 2022.
- Considering only the 3-pointers, Ivisic is just the fourth 7-footer in DI history to make at least six in a single game. The last player to do so was Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky in 2013. Prior to him, it happened twice in 2005 — by Tulane’s Ivan Pjevcevic and Vanderbilt’s David Przybyszewski.
(Somehow, someway, despite all the above, Kentucky fans still found ways to try to rain on Big Z’s parade.)
It was a big night for the Ivisic family overall. His twin brother, Tomislav, had a huge performance in Illinois’ 66-54 win over Oakland in something of a vicarious revenge game on behalf of Zvonomir, Calipari and the other Wildcats who got clipped by the Golden Grizzles in March Madness.
Tomislav Ivisic finished with 20 points on 9 of 14 shooting, 6 rebounds and 4 steals.
Another Big Game from Thiero
In something that is becoming somewhat commonplace, Adou Thiero put together a big game for the Razorbacks, as well.
The Kentucky transfer matched Ivisic’s 19 points on a slightly less efficient 8 of 15 shooting, including 1 of 4 from deep, and grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds. He also had 1 assist, 1 block and 1 steal in his 33 minutes.
Arkansas was plus-21 with him on the floor, but minus-5 in his seven minutes on the bench.
“If there are 10 better players in the country than Adou, I need you to show them to me,” Calipari said. “Who are they? Like, he’s a unicorn physically, now. You don’t have guys like him that are good enough with the ball.”
Together, Thiero and Ivisic combined to score 21 of the Razorbacks’ final 24 points, helping Arkansas grow its lead from 3 to the final 16-point margin.
In two seasons with the Wildcats, Thiero never scored more than 16 points. He’s now eclipsed that mark twice in his first three games at Arkansas, as he also scored 24 points against Baylor. That doesn’t include a 20-point effort against TCU in an exhibition game.
Brazile, Aidoo Injury Updates
Arkansas already has a relatively short bench because of the way John Calipari decided to structure his roster, with a nine-man rotation. It got even shorter Wednesday night because two of his three big men were unable to play in the second half.
The biggest blow was losing Trevon Brazile with 6:48 left until halftime. He appeared to land on someone’s foot and turn his ankle. The trainers came out to help him off the court, but Brazile was able to walk to the locker room mostly under his own power before eventually returning to the bench.
“They said it did swell a little bit and they weren’t comfortable with him going in,” Calipari said, confirming it was an ankle injury. “Because I did ask, can you give us three minutes so Z doesn’t have to play all 20?”
The way Calipari talked about Brazile, discussing how he still had to figure out how much to play him and Zvonimir Ivisic together, it doesn’t sound like a serious or long-term injury.
That’s good news for the Razorbacks not only from a depth perspective, but Brazile was one of their few bright spots in the first half. In nine minutes of action, he already had 4 points on 2 of 4 shooting, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
With him going down, Arkansas was forced to give Jonas Aidoo a few minutes late in the first half. The Tennessee transfer is still working his way back from a lower-leg injury and only at about 70-75% strength.
He initially wasn’t even going to dress out, but Calipari was told him to put on a uniform just in case. Sure enough, Aidoo ended up playing 4 minutes. Afterward, the Hall of Fame coach admitted that may have been too many.
“He’s all healed, but you’re going to have to play for the first time in a while, and you’re going to have some pain,” Calipari said. “But you’ve got to go through it and have pain, and is it too much for you to play?”
At one point late in the second half, Boogie Fland also rolled his ankle and had to check out, leaving the Razorbacks with six players. Luckily for them, though, the freshman was able to return and finish out the game.
It’s unclear how much the two big men will be able to do in the coming days, but Calipari said the injuries will likely once again impact their practices. In fact, he may install a new defense just in case its needed in the next game.
“We ended up having seven players,” Calipari said. “So this week we go Friday, Saturday, Sunday, I’ve got to put the zone in. Like I our own zone. Why would I go to zone? … We’re in foul trouble, and I don’t have any subs.”
Up Next for Arkansas Basketball
The Razorbacks’ four-game homestand continues next Monday with a matchup against Pacific. It’ll be the first ever meeting between the two schools.
Heading into Thursday’s home game against Northern Arizona, the Tigers are 3-1 with two wins over non-Division I schools. They did beat San Jose State at a neutral site, though, and lost on the road against Hawaii.
Tipoff of the Arkansas vs Pacific game is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and will once again be streamed on SEC Network-Plus. For those who’d like to get an early look at the Tigers, their next game will be streamed on ESPN-Plus at 9 p.m. CT Thursday.
(UPDATE: Pacific trailed by as many as 15 before rallying back, but ultimately came up just short in a 60-57 loss to Northern Arizona. It will come to Fayetteville with a 3-2 record. Following the loss, Pacific dropped to No. 268 in KenPom’s rankings.)
Other Arkansas Basketball Tidbits
- The announced attendance for Arkansas vs Troy was 19,200, a sellout. However, the Razorbacks were still selling some single-game tickets the day of the game and only about half of the seats were filled.
- For just the third time in his collegiate career, D.J. Wagner was held scoreless. He was 0 of 4 from the floor, including two misses from beyond the arc, in 37 minutes. However, the Kentucky transfer did have 5 assists to only 1 turnover and notched a career-high 4 steals.
- Troy finished the game with more turnovers (24) than made field goals (21). It’s the first time Arkansas has done that to an opponent since Jan. 24, 2023, against LSU (15 TO, 14 FG). According to HogStats, the Razorbacks are now 140-7 since 1992-93 when accomplishing that fact, including 27 straight wins.
- As good as the Razorbacks shot the ball in the second half, they struggled at the free throw line, going just 3 of 9 from the charity stripe. They went 7 of 14 for the game, which is a far cry from the 74.6% they shot across the two exhibitions and first two games of the season.
- The Razorbacks essentially completely shut down preseason second-team All-Sun Belt selection Tayton Conerway, limiting him to 2 points on 1 of 11 shooting before he fouled out in 28 minutes. Half of his misses were blocked shots. He scored 12 and 13 points in Troy’s first two games and averaged 11.8 points as the Sun Belt’s Sixth Man of the Year last season.
- Marcus Rigsby Jr. committed seven turnovers for Troy. That’s the most by an Arkansas opponent since Nov. 21, 2022, when future Razorback El Ellis had seven for Louisville in the Maui Invitational. Rigsby also had no assists. The last opposing player with 7-plus turnovers and zero assists was Missouri’s Mark Smith (8 TO) on Jan. 2, 2021.
See our latest on Arkansas basketball here:
Postgame Interviews
Arkansas vs Troy Box Score
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