The 2024-25 college basketball season has been a bit of a rollercoaster for the Arkansas Razorbacks (12-8, 1-6 SEC), with the most recent game being a loss to the Oklahoma Sooners (15-4, 2-4 SEC) on Saturday night at Bud Walton Arena.
There weren't a ton of positives from the loss, but one bright spot has been the play of Croatian center Zvonimir Ivisic, who put in a solid day's work for the Razorbacks.
Ivisic finished the game with 10 points, two threes, six rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. He played in all but two minutes of the second half, a decision coach John Calipari said happened because the Hogs needed his shot-blocking ability.
"I thought we needed rim protection because they were running downhill, and then we collapsed and they were throwing back for threes," Calipari said after the loss. "So I said I'll put the shot blocker in there. And Z had three block shots and six rebounds and did all right."
Calipari brought Ivisic in over the offseason to bolster the Razorbacks' frontcourt along with Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo. In the last three games, it has been Ivisic whose had the better performance.
Ivisic didn't have a massive stat line in the Hogs' win over Georgia on Wednesday, just seven points and four boards, but he put up a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) against Missouri on Jan. 18.
More importantly as Arkansas moves forward, Ivisic brings something his frontcourt counterpart doesn't, and that's his ability to score from deep. In the last three games, Ivisic has connected from deep five times, and for an Arkansas team that has struggled to shoot the ball well since SEC play started, that ability can't be overlooked.
"I feel like I started fighting more," Ivisic said after the game. "You know, as coach told me in the beginning, 'I want you to be physical, I want you to be tough, not soft. I don't want you to be pushed around.' And I think I got better at it. I was working on it as much as I could waiting for my opportunity and then that's it."
Ivisic's mental toughness through the rocky start in league play is something Calipari talked about after the game as well.
"(Ivisic is) in a great frame of mind, he’s got a great spirit about him right now," Calipari said. "He’s taking responsibility versus trying to blame anybody. He’s taking responsibility and he’s working in practice, he’s spending the time you have to spend at this and it’s paying off."
Arkansas has the midweek off and will be in action again Saturday in Lexington, Kentucky, to take on the Head Hog's former team, the Kentucky Wildcats. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT and the game will air on ESPN.
