Arkansas head coach John Calipari updated the health status of big men Trevon Brazile and Jonas Aidoo following the Razorbacks' 65-49 win over the Troy Trojans on Wednesday night inside Bud Walton Arena.
Brazile exited the game for the Hoop Hogs in the first half after landing on his right foot awkwardly, which was unfortunate timing for the junior as he had four points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals up to that point.
"Well, it was his ankle," Calipari said. "I don't know, they say it was swelling a little bit and they weren't comfortable with him going in. Because I did ask, can you give us three minutes, so (Zvonimir Ivisic) doesn't have to play all 20?"
Aidoo has played sparingly for Arkansas through the early parts of the season while recovering from an offseason injury, and he — along with Brazile — didn't play in the second half versus the Trojans. Aidoo only played four minutes in the first half and didn't record a stat.
"He's all healed, but you're going to have to play for the first time in a while and you're going to have some pain," Calipari said. "But you got to go through it and have pain and is it too much for you to play? But I told him prior to the game and he didn't have a uniform.
"I said, 'Dude, put the uniform on. I may not play you at all, I'm not planning to, but what if I need you for five minutes?' What did I play him, seven? And at the end, it was like two too many. And that's where he is right now. He's probably 70-75%."
On Tuesday, Arkansas associate head coach Kenny Payne said that the Razorbacks were trying to bring Aidoo along slowly and that the former Tennessee transfer was getting healthy.
For the Volunteers a year ago, Aidoo stuffed the stat sheet with an 11.4-point, 7.3-rebound and 1.8-block average every game.
"Jonas Aidoo is a really good basketball player," Payne said. "He's proven that. He's fought a bunch of injuries. I expect him to get better and better every day. He's doing his preventative stuff and his maintenance stuff with therapy and such. But Jonas is going to help us. He's going to bring a physicality to this team that we sorely need.
"He is going to bring rebounding to this team that we sorely need. He's a big guy that, that sets great screens. We just got to continue to allow him to get healthy so that he can help us."
The lone returner from last year's roster, Brazile has also dealt with his fair share of injuries throughout his career. Last season, the high-flying athlete averaged 8.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game for the Hogs.
Without Aidoo and Brazile on the court, former Kentucky transfer big man Zvonimir Ivisic picked up the slack with 19 points and two rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting from deep. He is the only Razorback since 1996-97 to make 4+ threes, block 4+ shots and record 3+ steals in a single game.
Up next, No. 18 Arkansas (2-1) will face Pacific inside Bud Walton Arena on Monday. That game will tip-off at 7 p.m. CT and will be streamed on SEC Network-Plus.
