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Razorbacks fall to red-hot Texas A&M, 7-4
- The Trough
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The No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks (33-6, 12-4 SEC) were defeated by the Texas A&M Aggies (22-15, 7-9 SEC), 7-4, Thursday evening at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.
Ace left-hander Zach Root was a little shaky to start against the Aggies, as he was tagged with four runs in the first two innings. In the end, he allowed seven hits and five earned runs through 4.0 innings pitched. He also notched six strikeouts and three walks.
Arkansas' offense matched Texas A&M's early run production, as it scored two in the first and two in the third, but was shut down through the middle innings of the game. Charles Davalan (two hits) and Wehiwa Aloy (two hits, two-run home run) were excellent at the plate, but the team only managed nine hits in 35 at-bats.
Right-hander Dylan Carter was big-time in relief for the Razorbacks, with four innings of one-hit baseball, zero runs allowed and four strikeouts. Flamethrower righty Christian Foutch entered in the ninth and gave up a solo bast for a huge Aggie insurance run, but collected two strike outs to close his only frame.
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Arkansas big man Zvonimir Ivisic to enter transfer portal
- The Trough
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The Arkansas basketball program is losing its second player to the portal, as big man Zvonimir Ivisic confirmed Monday his intentions to transfer.
A 7-foot-2, 245-pound forward from Vodice, Croatia, Big Z followed coach John Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas last offseason. In his only year with the Hoop Hogs, Ivisic averaged 8.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.
He scored a season-high 27 points against Alabama on Feb. 8 and racked up 25 points just one game later against LSU on Feb. 12. Despite only scoring two total points during the Razorbacks' NCAA Tournament run, Ivisic still managed 16 double-digit games in 2024-25.
Ivisic is the second Razorback to enter the transfer portal since Arkansas' season ended last Thursday. Freshman guard Casmir Chavis announced his transfer intentions Sunday.
Be sure to stay tuned to HawgBeat for the latest Arkansas basketball news.
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Hoops Transfer Profile: What Malique Ewin brings to Arkansas
- By DanielFair
- The Trough
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The Arkansas Razorbacks got their second transfer portal commitment Tuesday afternoon when Florida State big man Malique Ewin announced his pledge to the Hogs.
Arkansas had been connected to Ewin for a while, so his decision didn't come as a surprise. He took an official visit to Fayetteville on Monday and had another visit scheduled for Mississippi State afterward, but it appears that visit won't be happening. He joins South Carolina transfer Nick Pringle in the transfer class so far.
With the addition, head coach John Calipari shored up his front court last season that had lost two players already — Zvonimir Ivisic to the transfer portal and Jonas Aidoo is out of eligibility.
While Ewin now on board, HawgBeat takes a look at his game and what he'll bring to the Razorbacks next season...
Bio:
Position: CenterHeight/Weight: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds
Year: Junior
Previous Schools: Florida State (2024-25), Ole Miss (2023-24)
2024-25 Stats: 14.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.8 blocks; 59.6 FG%, 0.0 3PT%, 65.3 FT%
Highlights:
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What Ewin brings to the table:
Ewin has strong handles for a center and is elite when it comes to finishing at the rim, evidenced by his nearly 60% field goal percentage from last season, which led the ACC. Of those field goal attempts, 84% came at the rim, and he has a smooth finesse to his game that allows him to get clean looks down low.The Lawrenceville, Georgia, native is really good with his back to the basket, something that Arkansas didn't have a ton of last season. His footwork is really solid and he likes to use pump fakes to get defenders in the air.
Ewin is also a more-than-capable passer, and his court vision is remarkable for a big man. He averaged just 1.7 assists last year, but his film shows no-looks and accurate passes that put his teammates in really good positions to make plays (check the 1:40 to 2:10 mark of his highlight video above for that).
Rebounding is an area the Razorbacks struggled in last year, and it appears they've made an effort to shore that up with Ewin's addition. He tracks the ball off the rim well and shows a lot of effort on offensive boards, which leads to good putback opportunities.
Defensively, shot-blocking does appear to be an area that Ewin is not elite in, with just 0.8 blocks per game, but his 230-pound frame allows him to influence and alter opponents' shots. He has the size to defend bigger post presences, and his aforementioned footwork can help in that area as well.
What the analytics say about Ewin:
Scoring, passing and rebounding are all of Ewin's greatest skills, according to the analytics. He led the Seminoles last year in total rebound percentage (16.7%), was fourth on the team in assist percentage (15.5%) and was second in points produced (556) and points per game (14.2).
For reference compared to Razorbacks from last season, only Boogie Fland and D.J. Wagner had a higher assist rate (30.5% and 18.9%, respectively) and the closest anyone got to Ewin's rebounding percentage was Aidoo with 15%. His 14.2 points per game would have been second on the Razorbacks behind Adou Thiero.
Speaking of rebounding percentages, Ewin's offensive rebound rate was 13.7%, which was second in the ACC, and his defensive rebound rate was 19.6%, good for 11th in the conference. His total rebound rate of 16.7% was sixth in the ACC.
While we mentioned shot-blocking isn't necessarily Ewin's specialty, it's worth noting his 3.6% block rate sits only below Ivisic, Aidoo and Trevon Brazile, so in terms of next year's roster, he's still second on the team in that regard.
One other metric that sticks out with Ewin is his player efficiency rating. Click here if you want to get into the nuts and bolts of how it's calculated, but it basically tracks a player's per-minute performance, while adjusting for pace. The league-average is 15, and Ewin finished last season at 25.6, which was second in the ACC.
Compared to last year's Arkansas team, only Thiero — who has declared for the NBA Draft — came close to Ewin's number with a 25.1 PER. The next highest Razorback was Ivisic at 20.1.
Where Ewin could fit in the rotation:
With Ewin's addition and South Carolina transfer Nick Pringle on board, it appears Arkansas' front court is mostly solidified, though it's possible Calipari will elect to grab another forward to add some depth to the team.
That said, it's pretty likely you can pencil Ewin in as a starter heading into next season. His offensive prowess, as well as his rebounding, will be too good to keep off the floor for long stretches of time.
Last season for Florida State, Ewin was on the floor an average of 26.6 minutes per game. There's still some roster construction to be done for Calipari and his coaching staff, but expect Ewin to play that many, if not more, minutes in a Razorback uniform next season.
Arkansas is not done in the portal, so be sure to stay tuned to HawgBeat for the latest transfer portal news.
