The No. 19 Arkansas Razorbacks (5-2, 0-0 SEC) got down early and never recovered in a 90-77 loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini (6-1, 0-0 SEC) on Thanksgiving Day at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Arkansas got off to a slow start offensively and quickly found themselves down 11-0 to the Illini, who hit nine threes in the first half and finished 15-of-31 in the game. The Razorbacks didn't connect from deep until the second half, as they missed all seven in the first half.
"I mean, we did some good stuff, but you can’t give up 16 threes and expect to win a game, you can’t," Arkansas head coach John Calipari said after the game. "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, leaving corners and stuff that my teams don’t do, we did a bunch of it today."
The Hogs made several attempts to cut into the Illini lead in the second half, but every time they did, Illinois countered with a punch of its own and the Razorbacks could never recover. In the second half, the closest the game got was nine points (80-71 with 4:13 remaining).
Adou Thiero was, as he has been in most games this season, electric for the Razorbacks. He led all scorers with 26 points on 53.8% (7-of-13) shooting. He added six rebounds, an assist and a steal to his stat line and went to the free throw line 21 times in the game.
Here's some of HawgBeat's takeaways from the loss...
Box Score:
Big Z loses the brotherly battle with Tomislav
Arkansas center Zvonimir Ivisic got the chance to face off against his twin brother, Tomislav, who is in his first season with the Illini. Big Z is older by four minutes, but it was Tomislav who got the better of his sibling.Tomislav — who was a 28% three-point shooter coming into Thursday's game — was unconscious from deep, as he hit six threes in the game. He had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, blocked three shots and recorded two steals.
Zvonimir had a decent game himself, and scored 13 points with six boards (four defensive and two offensive), two blocks and two steals, and it's worth mentioning he kept the turnover numbers low for a second-straight game with just two. He was also the first Razorback to hit a three and the only one to hit multiple in the game as he drained three from beyond the arc.
Still, in the matchup with his brother, it was Tomislav who got the better of Zvonimir.
Arkansas has no response for Illinois three-point shooting
After they hit 15 threes against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Monday, Arkansas came back down to earth on Thursday. The Hogs missed their first seven threes and didn't hit one until Big Z drilled one at the start of the second half.
Illinois, on the other hand, was on fire from deep. The Illini hit nine in the first half and six in the second half, which was the primary difference in the game.
The aforementioned Tomislav Ivisic was the driving force behind the Illini's strong three-point shooting as he drilled six in nine attempts. Whether the Hogs thought they didn't have to guard him as heavily as other guys or not, he made Arkansas pay by leaving him open time and time again.
Adou Thiero is electric yet again
Another game, another chance for Arkansas forward Adou Thiero to show what he's capable of. The third-year forward was all over the floor and made effort play after effort play to keep the Hogs in the game.
Thiero led all scorers with 26 points and went to the free throw line 21 times. He could have been better there, as he only hit of those, but you can't fault his motor. He was a consistent source of energy for an Arkansas team that seemed sluggish at times.
Even when the game was mostly out of hand in the final minutes of the game, Thiero was hustling for rebounds and trying to will his team to a win as he scored eight of Arkansas' final 12 points in the last six minutes of the game.
Billy Richmond probably needs more minutes
Speaking of motor and energy, it's probably time for Billy Richmond to see more time on the floor. The true freshman saw 31 minutes of action and made the most of every one of them with multiple effort plays.
Richmond's energy was evident in most aspects of his game. Whether it was chasing down rebounds, diving on the floor for loose balls or putting the ball in the basket, Richmond continued to show the effort he has through the start of the early season.
He was one of three Razorbacks to score in double figures, as he finished with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He had four rebounds, two of which were offensive and two of which were defensive.
"All Billy did was do whatever he could to help us win," Arkansas head coach John Calipari said postgame. "Not trying to get more shots, he just did what he had to. He flies up and down the court, he passes up jump shots and gets to the rim. Our gameplan...was to play how we did in the second half, which is to come at the rim...Billy did that, and that's why we left him in."
