FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 20 Arkansas raced out to an 11-0 lead over Little Rock and never trailed on Friday night on its way to a 79-67 win.
Arkansas held a 42-24 lead at halftime, but Little Rock fought back getting the deficit to single digits in the second half. John Calipari was pleased with the win, but not the way his team played much of the second half.
"Thank goodness it’s November, and again, you have a chance to put somebody away, and you mess around," Calipari said. "So at half, instead of being up bigger and bigger, we’re up 18. So the first five minutes of the half set the tone for the rest of the game. First five minutes. First play, what did we do? We gave them a layup under the basket. You know how we guarded in the first half. What just happened? So, we’ve got stuff that we’ll be able to work on, and let me say this… Because it became a close game, it ends up being good for us. Who’s making plays? Who do you have to get out of the game? Who do you have in the game?
"What do you try to do to score offense? We passed the ball and moved it and did so much good offensively in the first half, until the last three minutes. We had seven wide-open threes, missed all of those. Seven. They were wide open. There was no one guarding the guy. Just missed them. That happens, but they were the right shots and they were the right plays. Sometimes you make seven in-a-row, sometimes you miss seven in-a-row. What do you do from there? Even with that, we were still up 18. Even the finish was just okay, but here’s what happened… There was a will to win. I don’t care who it’s against. When a game gets like that, that stuff was on us, and Adou making that play on the offensive rebound, again, he’s standing out how he’s playing. He’s getting it done. I’m going to answer just three or four questions, so."
The two leaders for Arkansas was Adou Thiero with 23 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks and 6 steals. Boogie Fland had 21 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals. Calipari praised both as well as D.J. Wagner, who finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals.
"They’re both doing good, but it’s nice to see DJ making shots," Calipari said. "Now, we got a couple other guys, we gotta get ‘em going and I’m trying to do what I can do, but the team knows — I’ve said it — I can’t do this for somebody. I can give you opportunities, we can create some things, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to win that battle. The one you’re having with yourself. And here’s what happened, guys. They’re not playing well offensively, so when they do get it, what do they do? Try to drive for…a…layup. What if there’s two guys in there? Doesn’t matter. I’m driving because I gotta get a layup. Can’t play that way. Just play. Just play.
"We’re a team that’s a work-in-progress. There are times I look at us and say, ‘Wow. We’re as good as anybody.’ Then there’s other times I look at us and I say, ‘Wow, we’re as bad as anybody.’ So it just tells you we can be something. Let’s get healthy, let’s do this together, let’s understand… You have to understand, as you’re teaching, what you do not to lose. Not only what you do to win, what do you have to do so you don’t lose? We haven’t figured that out yet. That’ll be the next challenge."
Zvonimir Ivisic added 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block. Karter Knox and Billy Richmond III each had six points while Richmond added six boards. One player that Calipari was likely referring to when getting someone going is Johnell "Nelly" Davis. The former FAU standout had just 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
The Trojans had four players in double figures including Mwani Wilkinson with 18. Johnathan Lawson had 15 while Isaiah Lewis 13 and Ante Beljan 10 points. Lawson topped all rebounders with 12.
Arkansas (4-1) will be at home on Monday night hosting Maryland Eastern-Shore at 7 p.m. Maryland Eastern-Shore (2-5) faces Illinois Saturday night before meeting the Hogs on Monday in Fayetteville.