FAYETTEVILLE – To say the first half of Arkansas vs Troy was ugly would be an understatement.

The Trojans had more turnovers (12) than field goals (11), but five separate scoring droughts of more than two minutes by the Razorbacks gave them a one-point lead at halftime.

Despite seeing his team lead for 32 seconds and having two big men behind him due to 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 players. wins on his resume.

We’ll be fineCalipari 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.

Although the Razorbacks shot 29.4% (10 of 34) and made just 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 win over a tough Troy team picked to finish third in the Sun Belt. It was a torrid 14 of 22 (63.6%) from the floor – including 8 of 12 (66.7%) from deep – after halftime.

“We did everything right,” Calipari said. “We were moving the ball, we had it, boop, wide open, miss. Everything inside out, that man has it, miss. Another one here, ma’am. I was ready to strangle myself. Come on, just saying.”

The key stretch came about three minutes into the second half, when the Razorbacks used a 12-2 run to take the lead for good. Zvonimir Ivisic knocked down a 3 to tie the game and start the run, and then a pair 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 to make.

The Razorbacks put their foot on Troy’s neck a few minutes later with a strange 7-0 run over an electric 35-second period that featured almost exclusively Fland and Adou Thiero.

It started with Fland throwing an alley-oop to Adou Thiero, continued with Fland scoring a steal and throwing it to Thiero for another dunk, and concluded – after a steal from Ivisic – with Thiero returning the favor by throwing Fland in find the corner. for a 3.

Here are a few takeaways from the win over Troy…

Big Z’s historical statistical line

John Calipari had a plan for Zvonimir Ivisic this season. He didn’t want his 7-foot-4 big man hanging around the rim and slicing up 3s. Instead, the legendary coach wanted Ivisic to do damage inside the arc.

Those plans were shattered on Wednesday night, as the Croatian knocked down six of seven attempts from deep on his way to scoring a career-high 19 points.

“What I found out today — which I kind of knew, (and) I hate that — but Z probably has to take five, six threes a game,” Calipari admitted afterward.

Bombing 3s was just part of a complete performance from Ivisic. With 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, meaning the Razorbacks were minus-1 in the 18 minutes he was on the bench.

It was especially impressive because it followed a rough performance against Baylor, which led to Calipari telling him two days prior to the Troy game that he had lost his starting spot because he didn’t deserve it.

“My message to him is you better go in there and rebound, block shots and fight,” Calipari said. “You can’t do what you did at Baylor, where the guy squeezed you out, grabbed the ball and put 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 only the fourth in DI history – with at least six 3-pointers and five blocked shots in the same game. Others who achieved these marks were LIU’s Tyrn Flowers in 2022, ULM’s Majok Deng in 2016 and Houston’s Dion Dowell in 2007.
• These three players combined for two total steals. Ivisic had three. If you lower the threshold to five three-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.
• Excluding the 3-pointers, Ivisic is only 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.
• Looking just at three-pointers, Ivisic is only the fourth seven-footer in DI history to make at least six in a single game. The last player to do this was Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky in 2013. Before him, it happened twice in 2005: by Tulane’s Ivan Pjevcevic and Vanderbilt’s David Przybyszewski.

On a side note, it was a big night for the Ivisic family. His twin brother, Tomislav, had a great performance in Illinois’ 66-54 win over Oakland, finishing with 20 points on 9 of 14 shooting, 6 rebounds and 4 steals.

**Check back for more information on the Arkansas vs Troy game**

The next step for Arkansas basketball

The Razorbacks’ four-game slate continues next Monday with a game against Pacific. It will be the first 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. However, they defeated San Jose State at a neutral site and lost on the road to Hawaii.

Tipoff for the Arkansas vs. Pacific game is scheduled for 7:00 PM CT and will be re-streamed on SEC Network-Plus. For those who want to catch the Tigers early, their next game will be streamed Thursday at 9 PM CT on ESPN-Plus.

Other Arkansas basketball facts

• The announced attendance for Arkansas vs Troy was 19,200, a sellout. However, the Razorbacks were still selling single-game tickets on game day and only about half the seats were filled.
• Troy finished the game with more turnovers (24) than field goals (21). It’s the first time Arkansas has done that with an opponent since January 24, 2023, against LSU (15 TO, 14 FG). According to HogStats, the Razorbacks are now 140-7 since 1992-93 when they accomplished that feat, including 27 straight wins.
• As well 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 scored 7 out of 14 for the match, which is a far cry from the 74.6% they scored during the two friendlies and the 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 fouling 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 last season as the Sun Belt’s Sixth Man of the Year.
• Marcus Rigsby Jr. caused 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 opponent with more than seven turnovers and zero assists was Missouri’s Mark Smith (8 TO) on January 2, 2021.

Post-game interviews

Arkansas vs. Troy Box Score

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