Second-Guessing Arkansas’ Lousy Last Play Call in Oklahoma Loss

John Calipari, Arkansas basketball, Arkansas vs Oklahoma
photo credit: Craven Whitlow

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas had a chance to build some momentum Saturday night, but instead finds itself back to square one.

Rather than entering their open date on a two-game winning streak, the Razorbacks lost one of their most winnable games left on the schedule when they fell to Oklahoma 65-62 inside Bud Walton Arena.

In the battle of one-win SEC teams, Arkansas dropped to 1-6 in conference play and its already slim chance of making the NCAA Tournament all but evaporated.

“Execution down the stretch, we did some good stuff, maybe didn’t finish it off, but there’s a hard fought game,” Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari said. “Had our chances again.”

The Razorbacks actually had a great chance at flipping the result, as it was a one-possession game for all but 2 minutes and 15 seconds of the second half.

That includes when an illegal screen by the Sooners gave the ball back to Arkansas with 24.7 seconds left. With the shot clock off and trailing by one, Calipari used a pair of timeouts to try to get his team the best look possible.

Out of the second timeout, which came with 12.6 seconds on the clock, the Razorbacks got the ball in to Zvonimir Ivisic and the 7-foot-2 big man took a couple of dribbles toward the left wing before dishing it to Johnell Davis on a backdoor cut.

Davis, who had a season-high 18 points, never really got under control and threw up a wild reverse layup attempt that missed everything. Adou Thiero got his hands on the ball, but wasn’t able to secure the offensive rebound. The ball ended up in the hands of Oklahoma’s Duke Miles, who threw it ahead to Jalon Moore for a game-sealing fast break dunk.

“Back door, and either you have it or there’s going to be a man in the corner,” Calipari said when asked what he was looking for on the final play.

While it made sense for Ivisic to be making the critical pass, as he had a season-high four assists already, it was a peculiar play call to put the ball in the hands of Davis in that spot.

Not only has he struggled to live up to the hype as a consensus top-3 transfer in the previous cycle, but the former FAU standout has not really shown — or been asked to show — the explosiveness to get to the rim and finish in traffic or get fouled.

That’s something he excelled at the last couple of years with the Owls, but prior to his season-high six attempts Saturday, Davis had taken only 17 free throws in 17 games. On top of that, 62.8% of his field goal tries this year have been from beyond the arc — a rate that continued in his inefficient 5-of-16 showing against the Sooners, which included 3 of 11 from deep.

It’s also worth noting that the “man in the corner” Calipari mentioned was D.J. Wagner, who is a career 30.7% shooter from 3-point range and is now just 5 of 27 (18.5%) in SEC play. Even if he hasn’t finished or been fouled at a high rate, he has at least done a nice job of getting to the basket this year and may have given Thiero a better shot at an offensive rebound had he been the one driving on the final play.

Plus, the shots may not be falling right now (4 of 21 from deep the last two games), but Davis has shown he’s a much better shooter than Wagner over the course of his career and had just knocked down a 3 from around the same spot a minute earlier. Perhaps he and Wagner would have been better suited to switch roles in that moment.

To be fair, though, Calipari may have called his best game — at least coming out of timeouts — of the season up to that point.

The aforementioned Davis 3, which tied the game, came on a designed play out of a timeout. The Razorbacks actually started the second half with a beautiful feed from Ivisic to Wagner on a backdoor cut. In the first half, coming out of the under-12 media timeout, Calipari drew up a really nice baseline out-of-bounds play that got Ivisic a wide-open look from deep, but he missed it.

Alas, it was the final play call that mattered and was the difference in Arkansas doubling its SEC win total or not.

Up Next for Arkansas Basketball

The Razorbacks now have a full week to prepare for their next game because they don’t have a midweek contest. Following their open date, they’ll head to Lexington, Ky., for one of the most anticipated regular-season games of the year in all of college basketball.

Next Saturday marks the return of John Calipari to Rupp Arena, where he coached Kentucky for 15 seasons and led it to a national title in 2012.

“There will be some emotion walking into that building, and really being in town,” Calipari said. “Probably get together with some of my friends. They’re playing good. We’ve got our hands full. Let’s see what happens. They’re a good team.”

The Wildcats lost their second straight game Saturday, losing to Vanderbilt on the road after falling to Alabama at home earlier in the week. That makes them 14-5 overall and 3-3 in the SEC.

Unlike Arkansas, Kentucky doesn’t get extra time to prepare for the 8 p.m. CT tipoff. It plays at No. 6 Tennessee on Tuesday, so it could very well enter the matchup on a three-game skid.

The game will be televised on ESPN.

Other Arkansas Basketball Tidbits

  • Oklahoma had a four-minute stretch midway through the first half in which it was unconscious from beyond the arc, making 5 of 6 attempts — including three straight by Brycen Goodine. The Sooners were 7 of 16 (43.8%) overall at the break, but Arkansas held them to 0 of 5 in the second half.
  • Freshman phenom Jeremiah Fears, a projected first-round pick, was Oklahoma’s leading scorer with 16 points on 4 of 8 shooting. He made his lone 3-pointer and was perfect on seven attempts from the charity stripe, plus added 5 rebounds and 3 assists in 32 minutes.
  • Jonas Aidoo did not play at all in the second half and it sounds like it was a coach’s decision rather than an injury. “I thought we needed rim protection because they were running downhill, and then we collapsed and they were throwing back for 3s,” Calipari said. “So I said…I’ll put the shot blocker in there.”
  • The shot blocker is Zvonimir Ivisic, who did notch 3 blocks against Oklahoma. That was part of a complete performance in which he had 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks in 27 minutes, including all but two minutes in the second half.
  • After thriving on free throws (29 of 34) and second-chance opportunities (33 points on 18 offensive rebounds) against Georgia earlier in the week, Arkansas didn’t do either particularly well against the Sooners. Although they shot 81.3% from the charity stripe, the Razorbacks attempted only 16. They also had only 7 offensive boards that led to just 7 second-chance points.
  • Included among the crowd Saturday night was legendary head coach Nolan Richardson and two-thirds of the Razorbacks’ famed “Triplets” of the late-70s: Sidney Moncrief and Ron Brewer.

Arkansas vs Oklahoma Highlights

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Postgame Interviews

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Final Box Score

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