FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 18 Arkansas defeated Troy 65-49 Wednesday night in Bud Walton Arena.
Arkansas (2-1) trailed Troy (2-1) 27-26 at the intermission. But the Hogs caught fire in the second half to take the win. John Calipari saw the Hogs shoot 10 of 23 (43%) from behind the 3-point line.
"Well, who were the guys that made the most?," Calipari said. "Your 4-man, and your 5-man. That’s who made them. Adou (Thiero) and Z (Zvonimir Ivisic), and then we sprinkled in one or two others. But, one had six and what did the other have? Two, or three? I don’t have the stat sheet."
Ivisic and Thiero each scored 19 points to lead the Razorbacks. Ivisic hit 6 of 7 from 3 while Boogie Fland had 12 points. Fland was 2 of 3 from behind the 3-point line. Johnell "Nelly" Davis and Thiero each hit a 3-pointer. Davis had seven points and five rebounds.
Trevon Brazile was limited to nine minutes before leaving with an injury. He had five points and four boards in his limited time.
"I thought he was good," Calipari said. "I thought he was good, and he was fighting, and so we’ve got to figure out if he needs to be in, do we play him and Z together? Do we sub like I did, where they each play 20 minutes and then maybe together five minutes so they play 25 minutes each. Do we do that? I was playing guards way too many minutes at Baylor. We let go of the rope at the end of the game. It was a three-point game."
Calipari was asked if he had an update on Brazile's injury?
"It was his ankle," Calipari said. "I don’t know. They said it did swell a little bit and they weren’t comfortable with him going in, because I did ask, can you give us three minutes so Z doesn’t have to play all 20? And then I said, okay, Z has a problem, we play war games. Who's going to play the 5? We said Adou. Then we had Billy (Richmond) and Karter (Knox), you’re still pretty big."
Jonas Aidoo, the talented transfer from Tennessee, was once again limited coming off an injury that hampered all preseason. He had no stats in four minutes against Troy.
"He’s all healed, but you’re going to have to play for the first time in a while, and you’re going to have some pain," Calipari said. "But, you’ve got to go through it and have pain, and is it too much for you to play? I told him prior to the game, he didn’t have a uniform on, I said, dude, put the uniform on. I may not play you at all. I’m not planning to, but what if I need you for five minutes. Then what did I play him for? Seven? (It was four). And at the end, it was like two too many. It’s where he is right now. He’s probably 70, 75%."
Calipari shared what his message to Ivisic was prior to the game.
"My message to him is you better get in there and rebound and block shots and fight," Calipari said. "You can’t do what you did at Baylor, where the guy wedged you out, grabbed the ball and laid it in. It was a one-bucket game and we’re making those kind of (mistakes). Those are just effort plays. I’m fighting him, he’s fighting me, he’s not moving me. I’ll foul him. How ‘bout that? I’ll foul him, make him shoot free throws. You’re not just grabbing a ball and laying it in. Fight. So he has the skill and he’s a confident kid. I told him after, I whispered in his ear, ‘I’m proud of you.’ Because for two days, I said, ‘You’re not starting. You don’t deserve it. TB does. So you come off the bench now.’ He responded. That means he’s going to be fine."
DJ Wagner played 37 minutes and didn't score. He did register two rebounds and dished out five assists.
"He’s one of the greatest kids that I’ve ever coached," Calipari said. "He is a player who plays to win. But we need him to score baskets, too. I told him the best shot he has is a floater. Why do you go all the way to the rim and it gets blocked? I’d rather you shoot the floater. Just ba-boom, let it go. He shoots it high enough. And he’s another one, I have no question… I mean, if you remember the game at Kentucky where Arkansas came in, he made four 3s in that game. He’s capable, he’s just not doing it right now. But he and Boogie give you two really good guards. Both of them still young, but two really good guards. Nelly gives you a vet. Karter and Billy give you two… Karter’s going to play into this, just believe me. But again, when you’re coaching and the game’s kind of close, you’ve got to coach to win. I’ll work on your (stutters) later, the ego stuff later, the confidence stuff later. Because right now we have to win the game."
Troy was topped by Jackson Fields with 13 points and Myles Rigsby 12. The Hogs limited Troy to just 22 points in the second half while scoring 39 themselves.
"I think we were more aggressive," Ivisic said of the final 20 minutes. "We were attacking the ball, pass, attacking the ball, pass. We were kind of including each other a little bit more than the first half. I’d say that was the main reason."
Arkansas will be at home on Monday to host Pacific at 7 p.m. and the game can be streamed on the SEC+.
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