The No. 16 Arkansas Razorbacks took care of business Friday night with an 85-69 win over the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks in a preseason charity exhibition inside Bud Walton Arena.
The Razorbacks jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, as the Hogs led by as many as 20 points in the game and held the lead for 39:11 out of 40 minutes.
While the win won't matter in the win-loss column, there are still some good and bad things we can take away from Friday's game.
Welcome to the show, Boogie Fland
Freshman guard Boogie Fland showed up and showed out in his first college action. The New York native was named a starter and made the most of that opportunity. He scored 22 points, had five assists and stole six passes against the Jayhawks.
HawgBeat had heard from sources over the offseason say Fland was shooting well from beyond the arc, and he left some of that to be desired on Friday as he only went 1-for-6 from deep, but he did a little bit of everything well.
Defensively, Fland was really tough at fighting through screens and keeping on-ball pressure. He only allowed 11.7 points in the game, according to StatBroadcast, and his six steals were twice as many as any other player on the floor last night.
"He blew up every screen, ran through every passing lane like what a point guard is supposed to do," Harris said postgame. "He might be better on defense than offense, but he’s a pretty good all-around player. Coach Cal’s got a pretty good point guard."
I was also impressed by Fland's feel coming off of screens. Whether he was finding center Zvonimir Ivisic cutting to the basket off a pick-and-roll, or giving fellow guard D.J. Wagner an open look after Ivisic draws attention away from him, Fland's vision was really good for someone who was in his first college basketball action.
Defensive intensity was top-notch
It wasn't just Fland who was solid on defense; the entire team had a high level of defensive effort throughout the game. The Hogs forced 17 turnovers (23.3% turnover rate) for the Jayhawks and scored 21 points off those turnovers.
As a team, the Hogs held a Kansas team that averaged 75.6 points per game last season to just 69, though it's worth noting the Jayhawks were down two starters — one of whom is an AP Preseason All-American in fifth-year center Hunter Dickinson.
One guy who I thought was noticeably strong on defense (outside of Fland mentioned above) was Nelly Davis. His shot wasn't falling for most of the night, but he had active hands which led to two steals and was really disruptive on that side of the floor.
"It’s all because of our defense," Calipari said postgame. "Look, if you can’t guard the ball, you can’t play good defense. You gotta be able to play the ball. And we can with D.J., with Boogie, even Billy (Richmond) can play the ball."
Kansas did try to make the game interesting at the end, as it went on a quick little 6-0 run with around five minutes to go, but back-to-back breakaway steals by Fland and Wagner deflated any sort of momentum the Jayhawks had tried to build.
One of the things that stuck out to me is the defensive play down low. Sure, the Jayhawks were without Dickinson and the Hogs were missing Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo, but Kansas had 44 points in the paint and nine offensive rebounds that led to 13 second-chance points.
The Razorbacks did only block one shot in the game, but I wouldn't expect that to stay the case through the rest of the season, especially when Aidoo returns.
Big Z has expanded his game
There were some question marks about Ivisic, who only appeared in 15 games last season at Kentucky. With Tennessee transfer center Jonas Aidoo out because of injury, Ivisic stepped up in a big way.He still tried to connect from deep, and actually hit two, which was tied with Wagner for most by a Razorback on the night, but it was pretty obvious he had worked on his post moves down low.
"Just how much he’s been working in practice," Wagner said. "Just working every day. Seeing how much work he puts in on the court, off the court, just taking care of his body and stuff like that. It felt good to be able to play against other people and be out there with him today, and I think he played pretty good."
The 7-foot-2 center led the Razorbacks in rebounds with six, but it was pretty obvious he's going to need to be stronger with his hands, as he had multiple rebounds get poked out after he had grabbed them.
Also known as the "Croatian Sensation," Ivisic had four assists and was a big part of the offensive gameplay for the Hogs. He was third on the team behind Fland and Wagner in usage rate with 22.2%, which means Arkansas ran plays through him 22.2% of the time he was on the floor.
"Coach gives him the freedom to play like that," Wagner said. "If you think you can make a play, then make it. When you cut, if you cut off Big Z, or if Big Z got the ball and you cut, keep your head up because he might just throw it to you. Even if you don’t see it, he’s going to see it."
D.J. Wagner was impressive
We've talked about Fland's performance, but he wasn't the only guard playing high-level minutes for Arkansas on Friday. Wagner pushed the pace and was a heavy contributor — the team's leading scorer with 24.
The Kentucky transfer was 8-of-12 from the field and 2-of-4 from three, and was aggressive in attacking the rim and getting to the free throw line.
"Just going out there and playing with confidence," Wagner said. "My teammates, my coaches tell me to go out there and play with confidence. If I’m open, shoot it, so just going out there knowing that they have my back like that, it was easy just to let it go. That’s what they say, just shoot it if I’m open."
Wagner got hot early and helped push Arkansas' lead. He had eight of Arkansas' first 12 points in the game and was aggressive in his first action in a Razorback uniform.
It's not uncommon for Calipari's offense to run heavily through his guards and that was pretty evident on Friday. Over half the plays run on the floor (51.7%, to be exact) were run through either Wagner or Fland.
Florida Atlantic transfer Johnell Davis' usage rate was 16.6%, but it's worth noting he's been dealing with injuries in the last few weeks and Calipari has said he hasn't practiced much.
Kansas head coach Bill Self noticed how strong the guard play was as well and had high praise for them.
"Arkansas is really talented, they’ve got great pieces," Self said postgame. "That’ll be the best trio of guards we play against this year. There won’t be anybody better than that we play against."
