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The No. 19 Arkansas Razorbacks (5-2, 0-0 SEC) got down early and never recovered in a 90-77 loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini (6-1, 0-0 SEC) on Thanksgiving Day at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Arkansas got off to a slow start offensively and quickly found themselves down 11-0 to the Illini, who hit nine threes in the first half and finished 15-of-31 in the game. The Razorbacks didn't connect from deep until the second half, as they missed all seven in the first half.

"I mean, we did some good stuff, but you can’t give up 16 threes and expect to win a game, you can’t," Arkansas head coach John Calipari said after the game. "You’re not going to. And I even said prior to the game, a team that’s willing to shoot 30, 35 threes, if they make 20, you’re losing. Then there may be a game they make five and they’re losing. And today, leaving corners and stuff that my teams don’t do, we did a bunch of it today."

The Hogs made several attempts to cut into the Illini lead in the second half, but every time they did, Illinois countered with a punch of its own and the Razorbacks could never recover. In the second half, the closest the game got was nine points (80-71 with 4:13 remaining).

Adou Thiero was, as he has been in most games this season, electric for the Razorbacks. He led all scorers with 26 points on 53.8% (7-of-13) shooting. He added six rebounds, an assist and a steal to his stat line and went to the free throw line 21 times in the game.

Here's some of HawgBeat's takeaways from the loss...

Box Score:

Big Z loses the brotherly battle with Tomislav​

Arkansas center Zvonimir Ivisic got the chance to face off against his twin brother, Tomislav, who is in his first season with the Illini. Big Z is older by four minutes, but it was Tomislav who got the better of his sibling.

Tomislav — who was a 28% three-point shooter coming into Thursday's game — was unconscious from deep, as he hit six threes in the game. He had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, blocked three shots and recorded two steals.

Zvonimir had a decent game himself, and scored 13 points with six boards (four defensive and two offensive), two blocks and two steals, and it's worth mentioning he kept the turnover numbers low for a second-straight game with just two. He was also the first Razorback to hit a three and the only one to hit multiple in the game as he drained three from beyond the arc.

Still, in the matchup with his brother, it was Tomislav who got the better of Zvonimir.

Arkansas has no response for Illinois three-point shooting​

After they hit 15 threes against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Monday, Arkansas came back down to earth on Thursday. The Hogs missed their first seven threes and didn't hit one until Big Z drilled one at the start of the second half.

Illinois, on the other hand, was on fire from deep. The Illini hit nine in the first half and six in the second half, which was the primary difference in the game.

The aforementioned Tomislav Ivisic was the driving force behind the Illini's strong three-point shooting as he drilled six in nine attempts. Whether the Hogs thought they didn't have to guard him as heavily as other guys or not, he made Arkansas pay by leaving him open time and time again.

Adou Thiero is electric yet again​

Another game, another chance for Arkansas forward Adou Thiero to show what he's capable of. The third-year forward was all over the floor and made effort play after effort play to keep the Hogs in the game.

Thiero led all scorers with 26 points and went to the free throw line 21 times. He could have been better there, as he only hit of those, but you can't fault his motor. He was a consistent source of energy for an Arkansas team that seemed sluggish at times.

Even when the game was mostly out of hand in the final minutes of the game, Thiero was hustling for rebounds and trying to will his team to a win as he scored eight of Arkansas' final 12 points in the last six minutes of the game.

​

Billy Richmond probably needs more minutes​

Speaking of motor and energy, it's probably time for Billy Richmond to see more time on the floor. The true freshman saw 31 minutes of action and made the most of every one of them with multiple effort plays.

Richmond's energy was evident in most aspects of his game. Whether it was chasing down rebounds, diving on the floor for loose balls or putting the ball in the basket, Richmond continued to show the effort he has through the start of the early season.

He was one of three Razorbacks to score in double figures, as he finished with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He had four rebounds, two of which were offensive and two of which were defensive.

"All Billy did was do whatever he could to help us win," Arkansas head coach John Calipari said postgame. "Not trying to get more shots, he just did what he had to. He flies up and down the court, he passes up jump shots and gets to the rim. Our gameplan...was to play how we did in the second half, which is to come at the rim...Billy did that, and that's why we left him in."

not much to say besides we got are ass kicked

Shitty post play and no shooting.

Nm

in fumbles. WTF. No excuse for that. That’s just a complete lack of discipline

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This is an Andrew Armstrong appreciation post! Dude showed up to play every game and was consistent and gave everything he had. He should be the model of what it means to be a Razorback. Plus everything he has done and accomplished was with sub-par and below average QB play. Whatever the future has in store for him I wish him the best of luck, hopefully he gets a shot at the NFL.

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I think it’s 21-30

Currently 29th in the country in effective shooting percentage. For a team that

One thing that's very odd for Cal, the offensive rebounding is some of the worst in the country: 283rd.

Fix the help defense, get Aidoo healthy, and get Thiero, Aidoo, and Brazile to crash the offensive boards. This team still has every piece it needs.

Highlights from the comeback win, enjoy!

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The Arkansas Razorbacks are bowl eligible for the fourth time in five years, and head coach Sam Pittman and his players celebrated that fact Saturday after a 35-14 win over Louisiana Tech at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

Following the victory over the Bulldogs, which was the Hogs' sixth of the season, Pittman broke out his old "Larry the Bowling Ball" in front of the team postgame and rolled it down to celebrate his team securing bowl eligibility.

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Simply becoming bowl eligible is not the main goal of the program, and to think it is would be silly. Arkansas was picked 14th in the preseason SEC media poll and the BetSaracen sportsbook had the Hogs' season win total set at over/under 4.5 before the year started, so it wouldn't be crazy to say they've exceeded expectations.

VIDEO: Postgame press conferences - Arkansas 35, Louisiana Tech 14

"I don't think anybody goes into a season going, ‘Man, I hope after 11 games, we're 6-5.' I don’t," Pittman said postgame. "But getting bowl eligible feels pretty good right now. I mean, it does. I think we'd been supposed to win maybe four games this year, or something, if you look, ask everybody, and you look at whatever.

"We've got to continue to get better. I think we're going to have an opportunity to keep our kids that we have on the team, and with revenue sharing, it's going to help us tremendously. I think the future is bright, but to answer your question, I'm happy that we got bowl eligible."

Realistically, the Razorbacks haven't actually exceeded expectations based on how certain games have played out. They probably should've won in double-overtime at Oklahoma State on Sept. 7, they could've knocked off Texas A&M in a 21-17 loss Sept. 28 and they were in basically the whole game in last weekend's loss to Texas.

It's fair for fans to desire more, but with the win over the Bulldogs, it's more than likely that Pittman will be returning for a sixth season in Fayetteville in 2025. Returning coordinators, position coaches and key players on the roster would be very beneficial.

RELATED: Social media reacts to Arkansas' 35-14 win over Louisiana Tech

"I’m not going to do the message to fans," Pittman said when asked about his message to fans. "But guys, y’all (reporters) have been making a lot of money off of you know is the guy doing this, the guy doing that or whatever. Or your opinion. Whatever. I’ve never one time worried about my job. I promise you, not one time. So you know I wish we’d kind of move on because it kills us in recruiting, you know.

"It’s a legit question. I’m not disappointed at all. But I was on six staffs where you go into the season and everybody’s got you fired. Three of them was fired during the season. Three of them were fired the day after the season and one of them was fired before the season. Now it looks … but I control this. So am I happy that we’re bowl eligible. Yes. For everybody in the building and that staff besides me. I’ve never worried about that. Still don’t. I’m going to be fine one way or the other. But I’m going to fight like hell for the University of Arkansas the entire time that I’m the head coach."

Pittman's players, specifically two of his best players in Landon Jackson and Andrew Armstrong, had his back after the win over the Bulldogs.

"It’s super exciting," Jackson said when asked about seeing Pittman happy and smiling. "I love him. I love him like a father. That’s my guy. I’m so happy to see a smile on his face like that."

Arkansas will have the opportunity to build on the win over Louisiana Tech next Saturday when they travel to Columbia, Missouri, for a matchup against the Missouri Tigers, who earned a 39-20 win over Mississippi State on Saturday to improve to 8-3 on the year. The game against the Tigers will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. CT and it will air on SEC Network.

I take his info as relevant. Not the super fans.

I feel the same way he does. His points are points I make all of the time.

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Head coach John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks (6-2) came from behind late Tuesday night to earn a 76-73 win over the Miami Hurricanes (3-5) in the SEC/ACC Challenge at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida.

Arkansas trailed for the entire game until freshman Boogie Fland hit a three to give the Razorbacks a 74-71 lead with 1:47 left in regulation. There were some late-game dramatics, but Arkansas managed to hold off the Hurricanes. Fland led the Hogs with 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting with six assists and four rebounds.

The Razorbacks shot 48.4% from the field and 47.8% from three in the game. The Hogs had 17 team assists and seven steals in the contest. Guard D.J. Wagner scored 14 points and added five assists and two rebounds.

Miami shot 48.3% from the field and the Hurricanes were 9-of-28 from three. Guard Nijel Pack led all scorers with 22 points to go with six rebounds and six assists.

Miami led for the entirety of the first half, which featured the Hurricanes shooting 50.0% from the field with four made threes and 19 points off the bench.

The Razorbacks struggled to find offense early and often in the first half, as they trailed by as much as 11 with 7:33 to play in the half. Arkansas cut the Miami lead to five points less than two minutes later, but it couldn't close the gap anymore and trailed 40-32 at halftime.

Arkansas shot 41.9% from the field in the first half, but it had seven turnovers that Miami scored 11 points off of in the period. Eight of the nine Hogs who saw the court in the first half scored at least one point.

Wagner opened the second half with a 3-pointer to cut the Hurricanes' lead to five right away. After Miami grew the lead back to nine, the Hogs went on a 7-0 run that featured two more buckets from Wagner and triggered a Hurricanes' timeout at the 14:07 mark with the deficit cut to 49-47 for Arkansas.

Miami guard Matthew Cleveland slammed home his second highlight dunk of the evening to make it a 4-point game, but Fland drained a three on the ensuing possession and then Billy Richmond III hit a bucket out of the under-12 minute timeout to cut the Hurricanes' lead to 55-54.

The Hurricanes drained a trio of threes over the next stretch of play, but Hogs' guard Johnell Davis added a pair of made buckets — including a triple — to keep Arkansas within striking distance down 66-59 with 7:06 to play.

Arkansas cut the lead to two and both teams then traded 3-pointers just before the final media timeout of the half. Miami was clinging onto 71-69 lead by that point. Out of the break, Fland hit a pair of free throws to tied the game for the first time since it was 3-3 in the first half.

The very next possession, Fland drained a three to give the Razorbacks their first lead of the game, 74-71, with 1:42 to play. Pack knocked down a shot to trim the Hogs' lead to one, but Fland then hit another shot to make the lead three again with less than a minute to play.

Arkansas forward Adou Theiro went to the free throw line with 11 seconds to play, but missed both shots to allow the Hurricanes another opportunity to tie the game, but Miami was unable to make a clutch shot late and the Razorbacks escaped with their sixth win of the year.

Up next, the Razorbacks will host UTSA on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.