FAYETTEVILLE — If there is one thing Arkansas basketball fans should be wary of with a John Calipari-coached team, it’s that his squad will almost certainly go through some growing pains early in the season.
Some of that is a byproduct of big-time opponents being sprinkled throughout his non-conference schedule, which is once again the case in his first season leading the Razorbacks, but it’s also due to the constant turnover on his rosters that prominently feature freshmen.
Arkansas couldn’t totally avoid the inevitable growing pains in the first official game of the Calipari era on Wednesday eve, repeatedly allowing its opponent Lipscomb back into the game. At times, it evoked last week’s collapse against TCU in an exhibition game.
In the end, however, the Hogs pulled away for a 76-60 win despite shooting only 21% from three-point range. Hogs senior guard Johnell Davis was especially efficient, going 7 of 12 from the field while Adou Thiero came back down to earth with 8 points after showing out offensively the previous game vs TCU.
But Thiero chipped in plenty of other ways, too, racking up four rebounds and three steals and providing a burst of energy late in the game to help provide the final margin. Thiero is one of three players who were with Calipari at Kentucky, but before tonight his nine-man rotation had no time on the court together.
That’s mainly due to center Jonas Aidoo, who got some spot minutes on Wednesday after missing both both exhibitions recovering from an injury. In the fall camp, Arkansas also had several other players who missed practice time. At one point, the Razorbacks were down to just five players in practice.
ESPN Analyst Shares Disturbing Story
Arkansas isn’t alone in this early-season sloppiness, though. It’s become pretty common across college basketball in the age of the transfer portal — and not just because players are constantly adjusting to new programs.
The Razorback Daily podcast had ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg on as a guest in Wednesday’s episode and the former Virginia Tech coach shared a story about a coach who actually tweaked his offseason program because of the threat of the portal.
“I won’t mention the coach, but I was talking to a coach yesterday,” Greenberg told co-hosts Matt Zimmerman and Quinn Grovey. “I said, ‘What’d you do in the summer? Did you get your system in?’ He goes, ‘We had a little bit of basic stuff in. I didn’t want to put too much in, in case there was some of the kids who didn’t like the system. They would have been gone by August.’ That’s the way it is.”
While it’s easy to assume that only modern college players wield this kind of power thanks to their NIL income and ability to hit the transfer portal faster than Jordan Anthony in a dead sprint, players have shown the ability to wield significant influence over their own coaches and athletic directors for decades.
Here are just a few examples of that:
- Wilt Chamberlain rebelling against his high school coach as a senior
- South Carolina football players meeting and deciding to ask their head coach, Sparky Woods, to quit
- 80 Memphis football players boycotting practice
- Drake basketball players boycotting practice to force their coach, Tom Abatemarco, to quit
- Texas Tech basketball players meeting with their athletic director to complain about how their coach, Billy Gillespie, was treating them
And on and on. The point is – college players wielding a kind of “veto” power in some programs is nothing new. Of course, that power usually grows bigger when the program is losing and often wanes in relation to the coach’s when the winning increases. As far as the subject in Greenberg’s dystopian coaching tale, the potential candidates are numerous, but it almost certainly isn’t Lipscomb basketball coach Lennie Acuff.
The Bisons return a pair of All-ASUN players from a team that went 20-12 – including a close loss to the Razorbacks – and finished tied for second in their conference a year ago. Now they’re the preseason favorite to win the ASUN.
A major part of their success has been their offense, which is a well-oiled machine and not likely thrown together in a matter of weeks.
“Lipscomb’s going to be hard to play against,” Greenberg said. “I’m not sure about their roster, but they run great offense. It’ll be Princeton-esque, the floor will be spread.”
Indeed, just as many predicted, the relatively better-oiled Bisons outshot Arkansas in three pointers (33% to 21%) and free throws (78% to 57%). Arkansas, though, dominated around the rim, which is why in overall field goal percentage the Hogs out-shot their opponents 54% to 38%.
See our post-game analysis here:
Arkansas vs Lipscomb — Highlights
Pregame Tidbits
Jonas Aidoo, the preseason All-SEC big man who transferred in from Tennessee over the offseason, went through pregame warmups and looks like he might be available to play tonight. That’s notable because he missed both exhibitions with an injury.
The Hogs have made one tweak to their starting lineup, replacing freshman Karter Knox with FAU transfer Johnell Davis. Davis came off the bench in each of the exhibitions as he worked his way back from a wrist injury.
14:50, 1H – Arkansas 8, Lipscomb 8
- It took a little more than a minute of game time and three possessions, but Arkansas got on the board with a jumper by Boogie Fland.
- Nice instincts by Johnell Davis to crash the boards and grab a rebound off a missed 3 by Big Z for an easy layup.
- Adou Thiero should have had an assist on a really nice kick-out pass to DJ Wagner in the corner, but he missed the 3 badly. Thiero was rewarded, though, by coming up with a steal and fastbreak layup.
- The first sub comes at the 16:01 mark. Trevon Brazile replaced Ivisic and Jonas Aidoo (!!) replaced Thiero.
- Aidoo forced a shot up on his first offensive possession and it didn’t fall. On the next trip down, he turned it over when he couldn’t handle a pass from Wagner. Not a great start for the big man.
- At the first media timeout, the score is actually tied. Ognacevic has half of Lipscomb’s points.
10:19, 1H – Lipscomb 14, Arkansas 12
- Karter Knox has checked in out of the media timeout. He replaces Wagner.
- An offensive rebound and layup gives Lipscomb its first lead of the game.
- Billy Richmond is the last Hog in the nine-man rotation to check in. It comes at the 13:01 mark.
- Wagner has now taken two very ugly-looking 3s. The most recent one, which didn’t count because of an offensive foul elsewhere, was wide and hit the backboard, completely missing the rim.
- Billy Richmond did a great job of starting a fast break and then running down the court. He was rewarded with a bucket down low.
- Thiero picked up his second foul while blocking out under Lipscomb’s basket.
- Lipscomb is 0 for 7 from beyond the arc, but still holds a 2-point lead at the U12 media timeout.
8:03, 1H – Arkansas 19, Lipscomb 17
- It took exactly 10 minutes, but Lipscomb finally made a 3. That pushed its lead to five.
- Arkansas, meanwhile, has missed its first five 3s. Davis just passed up a decent look to drive in and made a tough mid-range jumper.
- And just like that, it’s tied again. Wagner made a really nice layup through contact and completed the 3-point play to make it 17-17.
- In the blink of an eye, Arkansas is back on top. Davis grabbed a rebound – after a nice defensive play by Wagner – and flew down the court for a layup. That prompted a Lipscomb timeout. Davis has 6 points on 3 of 3 shooting, seemingly indicating he’s knocked all the rust off.
4:04, 1H – Arkansas 29, Lipscomb 23
- Arkansas seems to have woken up. Out of the timeout, a steal by Fland lead to a fastbreak dunk by Brazile. Then another steal – this time by Wagner – led to a layup by Wagner.
- Lipscomb knocked down a 3 to end the Hogs’ 11-0 run, but the Hogs answered with a fastbreak layup by Richmond.
- There’s another 3 by Lipscomb, which has made its last three attempts from beyond the arc after missing its first seven.
- Wagner picks up his second foul at the 4:49 mark. He’s the third Hog with two fouls, joining Thiero and Big Z.
- A fantastic defensive play by Richmond resulted in a steal and started a break, which Fland finished with a tough reverse layup. He’s up to 6 points.
- The Razorbacks have really upped the defensive pressure. They’ve forced four straight turnovers over the last 77 seconds.
HALF – Arkansas 39, Lipscomb 28
- Arkansas missed its first nine 3-point attempts before Davis finally got one to fall at the end of the shot clock at the 2:27 mark.
- Oof. It looked like Brazile just went up for a towering rebound, but he was whistled for a foul. Questionable call, IMO.
- There’s the Karter Knox we’ve been waiting to see: He just gave a hard jab step and drilled a step-back 3. That gives the Hogs their largest lead of the night, 37-28.
- On the next possession, Knox drove hard to the basket and threw down a thunderous dunk. My goodness.
- Wow. Boogie Fland just had a halfcourt heave rim out. That almost fell.
HALFTIME STATS
16:40, 2H – Arkansas 47, Lipscomb 36
- Lipscomb started the second half with a beautiful backdoor cut and feed, but Davis recovered for an even more impressive block.
- The Bisons cut the deficit to single digits with a 3 on their next possession, but Big Z grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up to push the lead back to 10.
- Thiero picked the pocked of a Lipscomb player and raced down the court for a fastbreak layup through traffic.
- Arkansas had a chance to extend its lead further after forcing a shot clock violation, but Fland missed yet another 3. He’s 0 for 4 from deep and has struggled from beyond the arc early on his in Arkansas career.
- Just as the Hogs were gaining some momentum, Lipscomb knocked down an impressive corner 3.
- Big Z made a nice post move and finished over his defender, but then gave up an easy bucket on the other end. That prompted a timeout by Calipari, who made his displeasure with the big man known.
15:50, 2H – Arkansas 49, Lipscomb 36
- Fland knocks down another mid-range jumper out of the timeout. He’s really good in that area.
- Ognacevic has been really good for Lipscomb, but he just air balled a 3 late in the shot clock. That takes us to the U16 media timeout.
11:10, 2H – Arkansas 60, Lipscomb 45
- Brazile is having a nice game today. He just tipped in an offensive board and now has 6 points.
- Davis finishes a tough layup and is in double figures with 11 points.
- Big Z blocked a shot out of bounds, but it looked like it was unnecessary and he could have just grabbed it. There was only 3 seconds left on the shot clock, but Lipscomb made the most of the mistake by scoring on a layup at the shot clock buzzer.
- Aidoo notches his first points on a post up. He backed his man into the paint after a feed by Fland and finished over him.
- After a 3 by Pruitt for Lipscomb, Fland finally buried one from beyond the arc. He’s 1 of 5 from deep, but has 15 points.
8:47, 2H – Arkansas 60, Lipscomb 54
- Lipscomb scored 7 points in just two trips down the floor, with Pruitt completing a 4-point play and Suber notching an old-fashioned 3-point play on back-to-back possessions. The lead is back down to single digits.
- The Bisons got an offensive rebound and stick back to cut the lead to 60-54 and Calipari wants a timeout.
6:17, 2H – Arkansas 63, Lipscomb 56
- Out of the timeout, Arkansas drew up a play that got Davis a good look from the corner, but he missed.
- Thiero drew a foul and could have stopped the bleeding, but missed both free throws.
- Lipscomb got another offensive rebound and made another 3 to make it a four-point game. It’s an 11-0 run.
- Richmond notched a block on one end and it quickly led to an open 3 by Big Z, which snapped the Bisons’ run.
- Lipscomb took some ill-advised shots over the last few minutes, otherwise it might have retaken the lead. On the play just before the U8 media timeout, the Bisons stepped out of bounds before shooting a corner 3. The Hogs are catching some breaks.
3:36, 2H – Arkansas 66, Lipscomb 57
- Out of the timeout, Big Z once again backed his man into the paint and this time scooped under his arms for a layup. He was fouled and completed the 3-point play, giving him 10 points and pushing the lead back to 10.
- Since the media timeout, it seems like Arkansas has made more of an effort to get the ball inside, rather than settling for 3s.
- As soon as I type that, Fland took a 3 early in the shot clock. Wasn’t a terrible look, but probably not what Arkansas needs at that point.
- Ognacevic’s fourth turnover of the game comes on an offensive foul and sends us to the U4 media timeout.
2:21, 2H – Arkansas 72, Lipscomb 57
- Out of the timeout, Arkansas got the ball to Big Z on the block and he finished again. He’s up to 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting.
- Lipscomb immediately turned it over and Thiero threw down a strong dunk in the closing seconds of the shot clock. That might be the dagger.
- A block by Big Z led to a fastbreak layup by Davis. He’s up to 15 points and that prompts a Lipscomb timeout. The Hogs are closing in on the victory.
FINAL – Arkansas 76, Lipscomb 60
- Another steal and another dunk by Thiero makes it a 17-point game right after the Lipscomb timeout.
- Fland gets a tough layup to fall with about 18 seconds left. The students cheer because it pushes the Hogs over 75 points, resulting in free nuggets for everyone.
- A huge block by Big Z ends it.
FINAL STATS
Starting Lineups
| Lipscomb Basketball | Arkansas Basketball |
|---|---|
| #2 – Will Pruitt – G | #1 – Johnell Davis – G |
| #10 – Gyasi Powell – G | #2 – Boogie Fland – G |
| #22 – Joe Anderson – G | #21 – D.J. Wagner – G |
| #6 – Charlie Williams – F | #3 – Adou Thiero – F |
| #41 – Jacob Ognacevic – F | #44 – Zvonimir Ivisic – F |
How to Watch Arkansas vs Lipscomb
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 6
Location: Bud Walton Arena (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Tipoff Time/TV Schedule: 7 p.m. CT (SECN+ / ESPN+)
Betting Line: Arkansas, -15.5 | O/U 159.5 (BetSaracen)
ESPN BPI: Arkansas has a 91.1% chance to win and is predicted to win by 14.5 points.
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Listen to the full episode of Razorback Daily with ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg here:
Evin Demirel contributed to the above
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