LIVE UPDATES: Calipari Era Begins (Sort of) with Arkansas vs Kansas Exhibition

Arkansas basketball, Kansas basketball, Arkansas vs Kansas
photo credit: Arkansas Athletics / Kansas Athletics

FAYETTEVILLE — The moment many Arkansas basketball fans have anxiously waited for, and some students even camped out for, has finally arrived.

John Calipari, who shocked the college basketball world when he left Kentucky back in April, will coach the Razorbacks against an opponent for the first time Friday night. Sure, it won’t count in the record books, but the Arkansas vs Kansas exhibition game will give a sellout crowd at Bud Walton Arena and folks watching on SEC Network their first glimpse of essentially an entirely new team.

The feeling is mutual when it comes to the players looking forward to experiencing the environment themselves:

If the Tip-Off Tour events in Hot Springs and Pine Bluff two weeks ago were a small taste, a showdown with the preseason No. 1 team in the country is a full-blown appetizer for one of the more anticipated Arkansas basketball seasons in recent memory.

Not only are the Razorbacks led by a Hall of Fame coach, but Calipari has assembled one of the more talented rosters in the country. It consists of one returnee in Trevon Brazile, who originally entered the transfer portal and NBA Draft, as well as three heralded freshmen, three players who followed Calipari to Fayetteville from Kentucky and two of the top transfer portal prospects in the country.

Arkansas filled out its roster with some walk-on type players, but the bulk of the minutes are expected to go to that core 9-man rotation.

Of course, Calipari has also been very open about the fact that the Razorbacks won’t be at full strength for their exhibition against Kansas because several players have been dealing with injuries. No specifics have been announced, but follow along below for some updates from pregame warmups, which should give us a clue of who is and isn’t available.

Likewise, the Jayhawks are expected to be without All-American big man and Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Hunter Dickinson because of a sprained foot. A pair of SEC transfers – Shakeel Moore (Mississippi State) and Rylan Griffen (Alabama) – are also likely out.

Despite those injuries, the two teams agreed to play a true 40-minute game. The only difference is that they’ll play four quarters instead of two halves, creating more opportunities for situational work.

It’s also worth noting that the exhibition is for charity. Arkansas will donate all of its proceeds to Arkansas Children’s Hospitals, while Kansas will donate to Fore the Kids Foundation, a partner of Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

The exhibition is also sponsored by CareSource, which actually put on a Pep Rally for Mental Health at Springdale High School earlier in the day. Calipari, Kansas basketball coach Bill Self and players from both teams participated in the event. Check out our story about the message both coaches conveyed to the crowd of high school students.

Follow along below for live updates, highlights and stats from the Arkansas vs Kansas exhibition…

LIVE UPDATES — Arkansas vs Kansas

Pregame Tidbits

Here’s a cool update from ESPN: Bill Self and John Calipari will be mic’d up during the exhibition.

As expected, Kansas center Hunter Dickinson is not going through pregame warmups. Neither are guards Rylan Griffin or Shakeel Moore. Their absences are not surprising.

For Arkansas, Jonas Aidoo is not going through pregame warmups. So it appears as though both teams will be without their top big men. Reserves Jaden Karuletwa and Melo Sanchez also appear to be out.

A bit of good news for the Razorbacks is that Johnell Davis has been warming up. It remains to be seen if he’ll actually play.

Starting Lineups

Kansas BasketballArkansas Basketball
#2 – AJ Storr#2 – Boogie Fland
#3 – Dajuan Harris Jr.#3 – Adou Thiero
#5 – Zeke Mayo#11 – Karter Knox
#24 – KJ Adams Jr.#21 – D.J. Wagner
#40 – Flory Bidunga#44 – Zvonimir Ivisic

John Calipari made a grand entrance into Bud Walton arena for the first time as the Arkansas head coach.

4:44 1Q | Arkansas 16 – 14 Kansas

Kansas opened the scoring with a tough layup through traffic, but DJ Wagner started his Razorback campaign with a pair of made 3-pointers from the left wing – showing exactly why he’s considered a breakout candidate this season by both local and national analysts.

The Jayhawks answered with a pair of dunks for AJ Storr and KJ Adams with a Boogie Fland fadeaway in between. DJ Wagner finished a tough layup in the paint shortly after to make it 12-9 Arkansas.

Boogie Fland flashed for a steal that led to a lob off the backboard in transition to the high-flying Trevon Brazile to take the roof off of Bud Walton Arena early in the night!

KJ Adams showed off his unreal leaping ability with a nice putback dunk off of a missed Jayhawk shot just before the first media timeout of the night. It’s been a high-flying affair so far.

END 1Q | Arkansas 25 – 17 Kansas

Arkansas flexed its defensive muscles on the ensuing possession after a timeout, forcing a travel from a Kansas guard nearly 30 feet away from the rim. Fland followed up the turnover with a smooth floater on the other end.

Boogie Fland continues to be Arkansas’ led ball handler even when veteran transfer Johnell Davis checked into the game for the first time. Both teams also did a great job throughout the first quarter at fighting on the offensive glass – though neither coach seemed very happy with their defensive rebounding.

The pace slowed down a bit to end the first quarter compared to all the high-flying jams early on, but the aggressiveness in attacking the paint did not waver for either team. Arkansas going 7-8 from the charity stripe helped them build an 8-point lead with less than a minute left in the first quarter.

The Arkansas pressure once again forced a Kansas turnover with 0:04 on the clock, but Boogie Fland isn’t able to capitalize at the buzzer. Hogs still lead by eight.

5:13 2Q | Arkansas 37 – 25 Kansas

Big Z showed off his full offensive arsenal on the first two possessions of the second quarter, forcing his way to the free throw line with a post up first before following it up with a smooth catch-and-shoot 3-pointer. He followed up that act with a resounding block spiked out of bounds.

Fans got their first look at Brazile and Ivisic playing together early in the quarter, but it got off to a slow start with a run out alley-oop jam for the Jayhawks. Wagner quickly answered with yet another tough finish at the rim.

After a Kansas floater, Boogie Fland hit the deck hard following a foul on the Jayhawks. He went to the bench favoring his right arm slightly. Wagner didn’t miss a beat however, flipping in another floater from the free throw line through the foul – he converted the old fashioned 3-point opportunity from the line.

A Karter Knox layup on the other end pushed the Razorback lead up to 12 points before the media timeout.

END 2Q | Arkansas 45 – 33 Kansas

Kansas came out of the break with back-to-back buckets from Dajuan Harris to cut the lead back to eight. Fland also returned to the court after the break as well and immediately made his presence felt with a defensive deflection and an outright steal leading to hoop plus the harm in transition, pushing the lead back to double digits.

Fland followed up the steal with a nifty backdoor cut to find an open layup off a feed from Big Z. The freshman guard’s fingerprints are all over this game – up to 13 points on 5-8 shooting so far.

Calipari seemed to be trying out new lineups, including one where Knox was playing the four-spot alongside the trio of Fland, Wagner, and Davis. The veteran transfer from Florida Atlantic finally got in on the scoring with a putback floater – his first basket of the game – to push the Razorback lead back up to 12 points.

Halftime Razorback Box Score

4:40 3Q | Arkansas 56 – 38 Kansas

Boogie Fland opened the second half with an aggressive take to the rim that missed, but also pulled the center over in help side defense which freed up Big Z for a tip in off the miss. Wagner hit a pair of free throws and Adou Thiero slammed home an emphatic fastbreak jam to cap off a 6-0 Razorback run to start the half before Kansas finally connected from long range.

Arkansas continued to capitalize on steals in the open court, pushing their lead to 18 points at one time. Big Z showed off his improved post-up game with a slick post spin and slam on the baseline.

The referees stopped the game for some blood on Fland’s elbow, and the commentators were quick to point out that was the only thing that has stopped Fland all night – and they’re not wrong.

END 3Q | Arkansas 65 – 50 Kansas

Things got a bit sloppy with multiple off-ball fouls and illegal screens on both teams for a few possessions, but Fland steadied the Hogs yet again, this time with a running midrange jumper.

Davis finally got a 3-pointer to fall after missing his first three attempts, but Kansas answered with a layup before the camera crew could even finish their after-basket camera cut. The Hogs struggled to defend the Jayhawks for several possessions in a row in the middle of the third quarter.

Big Z continued to be aggressive with back-to-back isolation opportunities. The first resulted in two made free throws, and the second resulted in a hook shot that touched every part of the rim before falling out. His aggressiveness inside the 3-point arc was a key point for Calipari through the offseason.

Arkansas struggled to control the defensive glass to close out the third quarter, giving up several offensive rebounds on the final possession before Kansas finally put the ball through the hoop, cutting the lead to 15.

4:59 4Q | Arkansas 73 – 59 Kansas

Davis had a rough night all around for the Hogs, including missing a layup where he thought he was fouled followed quickly be a missed 3-pointer from the corner to open the final period of play.

Fland, however, hit yet another 3-pointer to settle Arkansas down and extend the lead back to 18. Both teams started to show some signs of fatigue and sloppiness in the final period after playing in their first real game situations of the season with rosters limited due to injuries.

Karter Knox showed the first glimpse of what makes him such a special recruit, finishing a floater through the foul after some pretty ball movement from the Razorbacks. He converted the free throw to keep the lead at 16.

END GAME | Arkansas 77 – 64 Kansas

Dejuan Harris hit back-to-back crafty layups within the span of roughly five seconds to cut the Kansas deficit to 73-59 with just under five minutes to play. The Jayhawks cut the lead all the way down to 12 points before a pair of back-to-back steals from Fland and Wagner sparked the home crowd and pushed the lead back to 16.

Wagner continued his relentless pursuit of the rim a few moments later, earning another and-1 opportunity in a half-court setting. Big Z followed it up with a 3-point shot of his own before going down on the other end of the court with what appeared to be a calf cramp in his left leg.

Casmir Chavis was the first of the non-main rotation guys to see the court for Arkansas with just under two minutes to play. He replaced DJ Wagner with the Hogs up 19 points. A sloppy final few possessions ended with some free throws for Karter Knox and a final layup for Kansas to stop the count at Arkansas 85, Kansas 69.

Final Box Score

How to Watch Arkansas vs Kansas

Date: Friday, Oct. 25

Location: Bud Walton Arena (Fayetteville, Ark.)

Tipoff Time: 8 p.m. CT (SEC Network)

Commentators: John Schriffen, Seth Greenberg, Jimmy Dykes

Odds/Betting Line: Kansas, -4.5 (BetSaracen)

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