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.
