(Image Credit: Nelson Chenault - USA Today)
FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 18 Arkansas Razorbacks (2-1) earned their second win of the John Calipari era Wednesday evening with a 65-49 victory over the Troy Trojans (2-1) at Bud Walton Arena.
It wasn't an offensive domination from either team by any means, but the Razorbacks found a way to win with 16 steals and 24 turnovers forced.
Kentucky transfer Zvonimir "Big Z" Ivisic gave the Razorbacks life on offense in the second half and he finished the game with 19 points, 18 of which came on six made 3-pointers. Fellow Kentucky transfer Adou Thiero added 19 points and seven rebounds.
Arkansas was out-rebounded, 37-30, in the game and they were out-scored by 12 points in the paint. The Hogs did have 24 points off turnovers and 23 bench points.
Both teams got off to a relatively sloppy start offensively, especially the Razorbacks, who trailed 6-5 and were just 2-for-8 shooting from the field by the first media timeout.
Troy extended its lead out to 13-7 by the 13-minute mark, but Arkansas chipped away despite continue shooting struggles to make it a 16-14 deficit by the time the under-8 minute media timeout hit.
The Razorbacks finally took their first lead of the game (18-16) at the 6:13 mark and they relinquished it shortly after, when Troy hit its third three of the game to that point. Just before the Hogs took the lead, forward Trevon Brazile, who started the game, went down with a leg injury that forced him to go back to the locker room with four points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals to his name. He did not return.
Freshman Boogie Fland ended a nearly three-minute scoring drought for the Razorbacks with their second 3-pointer of the game, which tied things at 21-21 with 3:32 left in the first half.
Troy out-scored the Hogs by one after that to carry a 27-26 lead into the halftime locker room. Arkansas shot 30.3% (10-33) from the field and 18.2% (2-11) from three in the half. Troy turned it over 12 times — and made just 11 shots — in the first half, but the Razorbacks had just eight points off turnovers to show for it.
While the start to the second half was also slow, the Hogs gained momentum with a three from Ivisic that tied the game and a coast-to-coast layup from Johnell Davis that gave the Hogs a 34-32 lead entering the first media timeout of the half.
The Hogs turned that momentum into a strong run that gave them some breathing room on the scoreboard. Back-to-back jumpers from Davis and Fland made the Arkansas lead 41-34 and it triggered a Troy timeout with 13:26 on the clock.
After Troy climbed back within three, the Razorbacks then scored seven points in the span of 35 seconds to take a 48-38 lead and force another Trojans timeout. Ivisic's fourth made 3-pointer of the game made the Arkansas lead 13 points with six minutes to play.
The Razorbacks held onto a 62-47 lead by the time the final media timeout of the second half hit at the 2:38 mark. Troy was up to 23 turnovers as a team by that point.
Arkansas kept the usual faces in the game down the stretch and Ivisic put an exclamation on the game with a block at the rim up 65-49 just before the buzzer.
Up next, the Razorbacks will host the Pacific Tigers out of the West Coast Conference at Bud Walton Arena on Monday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed on SEC Network+.
