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The No. 19 Arkansas Razorbacks (5-2) were served a three-point shot reality check on both ends of the court in a 90-77 loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini on Thanksgiving Day in Kansas City, Missouri.

Three days after cruising to a 109-35 victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore behind 15 three-point makes, the Hoop Hogs shot a measly 5-of-17 from distance against the Illini.

It wasn't until the 17:31 mark in the second half that Arkansas — thanks to 7-foot-2 big man Zvonimir Ivisic — sunk its first three.

"I’ll be honest, getting hit in the mouth like this, you’ve got to play a certain way, and it’s winning basketball," head coach John Calipari said after the game. "We didn’t create enough threes because we didn’t find people, because we’re trying to do it ourselves, and there were opportunities. But when I watch the tape tonight, I’ll have a better idea."

Arkansas' lack of three-point acclaim was a question mark dating back to the offseason, as guard DJ Wagner never found consistent success at Kentucky a year ago and freshman Boogie Fland came in unproven at the collegiate level.

Even Johnell Davis, who cashed in threes at a 41.4% rate for Florida Atlantic in 2023-24, has looked like a shadow of himself to start the season.

That trio shot just 16.7% from three on six attempts against Illinois.

"They played in a way that they stayed out on (Johnell)," Calipari said. "They played that way, but he had six assists because of how they played him, so he played the way the game was being played. There’s going to be games where he has five and six threes because we’re flying up-and-down the court, we’re creating rotations, and he’s the guy that’s open.

"This team played to take away threes, and he did a pretty good job of it. We wanted to go middle pick-and-roll, but they stayed out, and they were saying, I think, the same thing we were saying, ‘you stay on him. Stay out there. You can stunt, but you’re not leaving him’. We left some guys. We’ve just got a lot to… The maturity. The playing, with one thought in mind, how are we playing to win this game. I’m not sure we’re there yet."

The Razorbacks' three-point woes weren't relegated to the offensive side of the ball alone, however, as Illinois bombarded Calipari's club with 15 triples on 31 attempts. Those 15 makes are the most by an Arkansas opponent since Northern Iowa's 17 in 2021.

Time and time again, Arkansas tried to claw back into the game just for the Illini hit a dagger from deep. Illinois big man Tomislav Ivisic, the twin brother of Zvonimir, finished an incredible 6-of-9 in the department.

"We were supposed to be rotating to (Tomislav), and there were two or three times that we do something, he’s there and you’re guarding this guy and you got to rotate up and he’s got to rotate over and we really didn’t," Calipari said. "So again, we got work to do and it’s recognizing that, the biggest thing again is you have a mentality, you get hit in the head, you’re playing to win. You settle down, you don’t shoot threes, you go to the rim, you get fouled."

What makes matters worse is that Illinois' shooting prowess was known coming into the game. Head coach Brad Underwood's squad ranked ninth nationally in three-point makes per possession entering Thursday's bout, but the Razorbacks could never make enough adjustments to cool off the Orange and Blue.

"I mean, we did some good stuff, but you can’t give up 16 threes and expect to win a game," Calipari said. "You can’t. 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, just leaving corners and stuff that my teams don’t do, we did a bunch of it today."

Up next, Arkansas will travel to Coral Gables, Florida, for the SEC-ACC Challenge against the Miami Hurricanes. That game will tip off at 6 or 6:30 p.m. CT and will air on ESPN or ESPN2.

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In the last 10 years of seasons, how many losses have we had where we were winning the game at any point of the 4th quarter.

I'd bet it's around 80%.

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The No. 19 Arkansas Razorbacks (5-1, 0-0 SEC) will be center stage when they take on the Illinois Fighting Illini (5-1, 0-0 Big 10) on Thanksgiving Day at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Arkansas is coming off a blowout 109-35 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Monday, while the Illini did some damage of their own with a 92-34 dismantling of Little Rock on the same day.

The game is set to tip off at 3 p.m. CT and will air on CBS following the Chicago Bears-Detroit Lions NFL game, which will likely draw eyes from across the country.

HawgBeat sat down with Orange and Blue News Publisher Doug Bucshon and asked him some questions to better understand the Razorbacks’ next opponent…

Illinois has looked good through the first six games this season, but got punched in the mouth by Alabama last week. What went wrong in that game, and is it something that Arkansas can exploit Thursday?​

Bucshon: "Alabama is a better team right now and much more experienced. Illinois rolls out 10 newcomers, including four freshmen who play integral roles, so it’s going to take some time for them to fully gel. The Illini are particularly raw on the defensive end, and Alabama’s quickness rattled them. Illinois got sped up on the offensive end.

"The Tide scored 50 points in the paint, and most of those buckets were on straight line drives. Illinois was okay offensively and they had their moments, but every time they had an opportunity to cut into the Bama lead they couldn’t get a key stop, or they made “freshman” mistakes like a rushed shot or bad pass."

Illinois has been a great team offensively so far this year. Who are the main weapons and where are they most effective?​

Bucshon: "I would qualify that by saying the offensive numbers – and defensive for that matter – are skewed at this point because of the quality of the opponents. Alabama has been the only quality opponent through the first six games. Kenpom.com ranks Illinois #32 nationally in offensive efficiency.

"The spread-motion attack that Brad Underwood uses is designed to get shots from 3-point range or shots at the rim. Other than Will Riley, they don’t take many mid-range shots. They are most effective when the threes are going down, obviously, but the offense has the best flow when they get good spacing and have a balance between threes and points in the paint.
"It may not be a good measuring stick because of the opponent, but Illinois was strong on the offensive glass on Monday night against Little Rock. Illinois had 23 second chance points on 19 offensive rebounds.

"Though multiple players are capable of putting up double-digit points, three first-year players have been the most consistent scorers. Riley comes off the bench to score 17 points per game (more on Riley below). He can go on game-changing heaters. Big man Tomislav Ivisic has an inside-outside game that makes him hard to guard. Point guard Kasparas Jakucionis has mostly scored on drives and in transition, but he’s now starting to heat up from long range."

Speaking of Riley, he has been on a tear to start the season. What can Arkansas do to slow him down?​

Bucshon: "You have to get physical with Riley. If you let him operate in space, he’s a natural scorer at all three levels and a knock-down jump shooter with unlimited range. If you close hard on him, he can put It on the floor going either direction and score on mid-range pull ups. At 6-foot-8, he scores over the top of smaller wings.

"Defenders who have disrupted Riley have put a body on him without fouling and made him try to score through contact. He has a thin build and not a ton of lower body strength, so you can knock him off balance and force him to make tough shots."

​

The Illini have been a great rebounding team, one of the best in the country so far. What makes them so effective on the boards?​

Bucshon: "Size, bulk, and the ability to change directions and track down the basketball. Ivisic and freshman Morez Johnson are the best rebounders, though they have different styles. Ivisic is long at 7-foot-1, he gets good position, and yanks down rebounds against smaller players. Johnson is a bulky space eater who is tenacious tracking down the ball and jumps really well off of two feet.

"Underwood wants his guards to crash the board, so that emphasis has been working well for them. Jakucionis and starting wing Tre White are particularly strong rebounders. White has 19 rebounds in the last two games."

Arkansas and Illinois have a familial connection in the Ivisic brothers. What does Tomislav do well on the floor, and which brother do you think has the better game?​

Bucshon: "All I’ve really seen from Zvonimir is his YouTube highlights, so I’m not intimately familiar with his game. Still, judging by that limited viewing and the stats, the brothers appear to have similar games. Both can score in the post or step out and hit jumpers. They are both excellent passers out of the high post.

"Big Z is stronger at this point and a much better shot blocker; He tops the SEC in block rate. I think Tomislav has a little better footwork on post ups and a smoother baby hook. I would give the edge to Z because he’s more advanced on the defensive end."

How do you see this game playing out?​

Bucshon: "Fans are going to get a good show. It’s going to be a very competitive game that could go either way. It probably simply comes down to which team makes shots. Illinois has a better offense. Arkansas has a better defense.

"Points off of turnovers favor Arkansas. The Illini have been loose with the ball at times. Illinois has the advantage when it comes to rebounding and second chance points. The Hogs are 12th in the SEC in rebounding margin, and Illinois opponents are only rebounding 22% of their misses."

“I’ll be a homer and pick Illinois by a bucket.

Score Prediction: 80-78, Illinois

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change has got to be made, absolutely awful coaching, no excitement, but HELL YEA YEAR 6

As many faults as this program has in football, this staff actually did put together a pretty solid team up and down the entire roster. There's size, athleticism, and speed everywhere again up and down the entire roster.

OL leaves a bit to be desired but it was better than 2023.

6 wins is what most of us would have been fine with before the season. Not thrilled with but okay. A starting point to another endless rebuild.

But what I have an issue with is:
1) The clunkers at our own home stadium outside Tennessee. You want to go to a game and leave home happy and fired up for the next one. That only happened one time this season for us. I realize we are not an elite football program so losses will happen with our schedule but come on man. The only game I was to proudly call the hogs afterward was Tennessee.

2) SO MANY MISSED OPPORTUNITIES!!!!!!!! I took my six year old son up the road to Stillwater and once again left very empty and disappointed. The fumbles, the penalties, the ridiculous repeated gaffes robbed us of several wins. We had a team good enough to compete with and win against the teams we are equal with or better than but lose due to too many unforced errors. The game in Stillwater was the epitome of this entire 2024 season way back on week two. Running into the punt returner not once but twice. The second time caused the turnover that beat us. Ball at midfield driving against a bad defense and you drop a lateral toss. Missing a couple makeable kicks that would have won it. Just elementary Pee Wee ball type crap that just shouldn't happen.
Also of course we choked away the aTm and Mizzou games. We appeared to be in control of all three of these games especially in como and stillwater AND LOST ALL THREE DAMN GAMES! This was my biggest issue with the way this season played out. 6-6 isn't a disaster but it is when you probably should have at the very least been 8-4 and in the top 25 with momentum in recruiting. This is why a change probably needs to happen or you're about to lose the majority of your fanbase.

Just my 2 cents.

Looking like a really good year for the state as a whole in basketball.

Little Rock was picked to finish first in the OVC
Arkansas State picked to finish first in the Sun Belt
Arkansas picked to finish fourth in the SEC
UAPB picked to finish 10th in the SWAC
UCA picked to finish 10th in the ASUN (12th last year)

Also, Arkansas Tech and Harding picked to finish first and fifth in the GAC. Monticello was 10th.

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The Arkansas Razorbacks (6-6, 3-5 SEC) dropped in the ESPN Football Power Index (FPI) following their 28-21 loss Saturday to the Missouri Tigers at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri.

After coming in at 29th overall following their loss to Texas, the Razorbacks fell nine spots to No. 38 off the back of the loss to Missouri in ESPN’s FPI this week. It's the largest move up or down of the season for the Hogs, which paints a poor picture for Arkansas as it enters transfer portal season.

Projected by the FPI in the preseason to finish with 5.5 wins, Arkansas proved it to be relatively correct by hitting the six-win mark to eclipse bowl eligibility.

According to ESPN, Arkansas finished with the 20th-highest SOS (strength of schedule). The Razorbacks also slot in at No. 37 in Game Control rank, which reflects the chance that an average Top 25 team would control games from start to end. Finally, Arkansas is No. 62 in average in-game win probability.

After 14 weeks of football, Arkansas dropped to No. 38 in the country in efficiency rankings, according to ESPN. This includes a 60.9 (No. 43) offensive rating.

The defensive rating moved down to 66.3 (No. 33) this week, and the special teams unit increased its rating to 45.9 (No. 89) after the Missouri game.

Compared to the rest of the SEC, the Razorbacks come in at No. 13 in the FPI just above Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Mississippi State. The Hogs are slightly better in the efficiency department, as they slot in at No. 11 in the SEC.

Arkansas will now await its bowl destination, which will be revealed Sunday, Dec. 8.

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From @DanielFair

The Arkansas Razorbacks (7-2, 0-0 SEC) will be on the national stage for another marquee matchup Tuesday as they take on the No. 14 Michigan Wolverines (8-1, 2-0 Big 10) in the Jimmy V Classic at the iconic Madison Square Garden.

Arkansas remained outside the AP Top 25 on Monday, while Michigan jumped all the way to No. 14. The Wolverines have rattled off seven straight wins, two of which came against ranked opponents (No. 22 Xavier and No. 11 Wisconsin).

This is the seventh time the Razorbacks and Wolverines have faced off, one of which came in the 1997 NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden. Michigan took a 77-62 win over Arkansas en route to winning the entire tournament that year.

Michigan is led by first-year head coach Dusty May, who took over the Wolverines program after a successful stint at Florida Atlantic, where he coached Arkansas guard Johnell Davis. He brought in several transfers who play main roles for the team, which includes two seven-foot big men who get the bulk of the attention.

Here's HawgBeat's preview of what you need to know about the Michigan Wolverines ahead of Tuesday's contest, including analytics, potential starting lineups and more...

Michigan personnel preview​

It's become a trend for most college basketball programs around the country, but Michigan has a newly-built roster that May put together in the offseason. He had three returners from last season's team, so he brought in six transfer players and four freshmen, one of whom has played key minutes for the Wolverines.

Michigan has a pair of big men who will be a focal point of the offense in Vladislav Goldin (Florida Atlantic transfer) and Danny Wolf (Yale transfer). They run a lot of pick-and-roll action between them in the high and low post, and it's worked well for them. They're both averaging 12.1 points per game and shooting at high marks from the field.

"We’re all pretty familiar with the team cause Nelly played for their coach, so we’ve got a little insight from him," Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile said Saturday. "We know they’re going to be physical, we know they’re going to do pick and rolls with the four and five, so we’ll go over that for the next couple days."

Goldin isn't a threat from deep, but Wolf has shown the ability to knock down the three-ball, so Arkansas will need to be on its A-game in defending the pick-and-pop.

One transfer who has previous experience against the Razorbacks is Tre Donaldson, who went to Michigan after two seasons at Auburn. He only averaged 6.7 points per game last season for the Tigers, but he nearly had a double-double against Arkansas last year as he finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in a 83-51 win at Bud Walton Arena back in January.

Donaldson has had a much bigger role at Michigan this year and has started all nine games for the Wolverines. He's averaging 12.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and four assists per game and is shooting 48.7% from the field. He's become a bigger threat to shoot the three since he joined the Wolverines and owns a 45.5% three-point percentage.

Michigan's leading scorer is Roddy Gayle Jr., a transfer from Ohio State who is averaging 12.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Donaldson is the guy who runs the point, but Gayle is good at distributing the ball and has great court vision to find opportunities for his teammates.

Nimari Burnett is one of the key returners from last year's Michigan squad. He's not a lethal scorer and only averages 8.9 points per game, but he is a capable shooter, especially when he gets the ball in catch-and-shoot situations. His best offensive game came against Miami (Ohio) when he hit four threes and finished with 18 points.

Analytics preview​

The KenPom analytics have Arkansas behind Michigan in all three main categories. The Wolverines are No. 22 overall, No. 11 in defensive efficiency and No. 43 in offensive efficiency, while the Hogs are No. 45 overall, No. 75 in offensive efficiency and No. 19 in defensive efficiency.

The Razorbacks play at a faster pace than the Wolverines do, and that's how Arkansas has played its best so far this season. The Hogs are No. 77 in tempo while Michigan is No. 108.

Where Arkansas can take advantage of Michigan and use that tempo to its advantage is in the turnover department. The Wolverines average the 22nd-most giveaways in the country with 15.1 per game, while the Razorbacks force 15.2 per game on average.

If the Hogs can take advantage of the Wolverines' mistakes, it could lead to more transition offense, which is exactly how Arkansas took the win against UTSA on Saturday. In the first half, Arkansas forced just two turnovers and only scored two points off those. In the second half, however, the Hogs forced seven and scored 16.

As mentioned above, Michigan's two seven-footers are a focal point of the team's game. They run a lot of pick-and-roll action through them, but Wolf is the one Arkansas will need to focus on the most.
The Yale transfer averages a double-double with 12.1 points and 10 rebounds per game, but he also has deceptively good ball handling that can make him a nightmare to guard.

The flip side of that ball handling is that it has gotten him into trouble as well. He has the highest usage rate of the main contributors on the team at 24.3%, but also owns the highest turnover rate at 28.5%.

With such a size-heavy lineup, rebounding will be a major key in this matchup. Michigan averages 38.6 total rebounds per game and 11.8 of those come on the offensive end. Wolf and Goldin make up the bulk of those and have the highest rebound rates on the team at 20.5% and 12.7%, respectively.

Potential starting lineups​

Possible Arkansas Starting Lineup

Aidoo made his first start of the season against UTSA last Saturday, and with the threat down low Michigan has, the Hogs will need him to be the All-SEC-level center he is. One potential change we might see is for Arkansas to go with Ivisic (if he's healthy) at the four to add more size and length to the frontcourt.

Possible Michigan Starting Lineup

This starting five is what Michigan has put on the floor in each of the last five games, and it doesn't seem like it will change.

Wrapping it up​

It's not a big stretch to say this matchup is the toughest test for Arkansas so far this season. They played Baylor and Illinois earlier this year, but Michigan presents a much different challenge, and it's happening on a massive stage at an well-known venue.

The trend for Arkansas in recent games has been a slow and sluggish start, and while the Hogs were able to overcome those against Miami and UTSA last week, this is not the opponent to try that with. They need to come out fast, in-sync and firing on all cylinders so they don't have to dig themselves out of a double-digit hole like they tried to against Illinois.

For Arkansas' sake, the Razorbacks need both Ivisic and Aidoo healthy and prepared to play at peak performance. They can't have lackluster production down low and expect Michigan to not take advantage.

Arkansas and Michigan will tip off from Madison Square Garden at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. The game will air on ESPN.

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Team Grades

~Overall: 70.0

~Defense: 69.9

~Run defense: 74.8

~Tackling: 70.1

~Pass-rush: 53.9

~Coverage: 70.4

Notes​

~ Larry Worth III was once again one of Arkansas' highest graded defenders, as he finished with a 79.3 run defense grade, a team-high 87.1 tackling grade and a 71.1 coverage grade.

~ Hudson Clark (32.2), Cam Ball (40.5) and Brad Spence (41.4) had the worst three tackling grades on the team. Spence also had the Hogs' worst coverage grade (36.3).

~ In his final regular season game as a Razorback, longtime defensive tackle Eric Gregory finished with a 57.4 run defense grade, a 75.9 tackling grade and a 53.1 pass-rush grade.

~ Safeties TJ Metcalf and Jayden Johnson were excellent against Missouri, as both finished with 80.0+ tackling grades and 70.0+ coverage grades.

~ Keivie Rose was Arkansas' highest-graded defensive lineman, as he ended with a 65.8 run defense grade, a 69.7 tackling grade and a 60.9 pass-rush grade.

Arkansas Defense PFF Grades - Missouri

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