Arkansas basketball is rapidly approaching its SEC slate. The Razorbacks (7-2) have just four games remaining before opening up the conference schedule on the road against No. 3 Tennessee.
With nine games in the rear-view mirror, we’ve already learned a ton about John Calipari’s first team in Fayetteville. Here are nine observations from the first month of the season, coming off the Hogs’ 75-60 victory over UTSA Saturday.
Adou Thiero has taken a leap
Thiero is averaging 18.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 2.1 assists, which are all career-highs. He only averaged 7.2 points per game last year at Kentucky.
Thiero’s getting to the basket at will and finishing through contact. He’s been an unquestioned leader for Arkansas, and all that’s left to develop is his jump shot. He’s still struggling with a 21.1% rate from 3-point range.
The offense runs through Boogie Fland
DJ Wagner was widely expected to be the orchestrator, but Fland has taken the reins. He’s averaging 15 points and 5.2 assists with shooting splits of 41/40/82.
Fland has simply been one of the best freshmen and point guards across the country, and when the game hit crunch time against Miami, he proved he can also be a closer.
And surprisingly not Johnell Davis
It was also widely expected Davis would lead Arkansas in scoring, but he just hasn’t been able to translate his success from Florida Atlantic to Fayetteville. Last season, Davis averaged 18.2 points on 41.4% shooting from three. This year, he’s averaging 9.3 points with a 38.5% rate.
The topsy-turvy start to Davis’ Arkansas career can be encapsulated by his last five games: two points against Little Rock, 16 versus Maryland Eastern Shore, three in a loss to Illinois, 12 in a win over Miami and 13 Saturday against UTSA.
Zvonimir Ivišić is the best shooter on the team
Calipari wanted Ivišić focusing less on 3-pointers during the preseason, but Arkansas needs the 7-foot-2 center from Croatia to stretch opposing defenses.
Ivišić is 19 of 33 (57.6%) on the season from long range. The next closest player on the roster is Boogie Fland at 40%. Ivišić didn’t play Saturday with an ankle injury.
But 3-pointers remain a concern
The entire roster is shooting 36.2% on 3-pointers this season. That number increased after an 11 for 23 showing against Miami and puts Arkansas close to the 36.9% average of the last 20 Final Four teams.
However, the biggest concern is a lack of options from behind-the-arc. Only four players have made more than 10 threes, and opposing teams are starting to sag off the likes of Adou Thiero, Karter Knox and Billy Richmond.
Hogs are reluctant to play two bigs
Injuries to Jonas Aidoo and Trevon Brazile have played a big part, and even Zvonimir Ivišić turned his ankle in a recent practice, but the Hogs have played two bigs on the floor together for 24:35 this season.
Typically, Calipari has elected to use one and play Adou Thiero at the four. That decision has helped Thiero find mismatches on offense, but Arkansas will surely need lineups with more size in the SEC.
Defense built on steals
The Razorbacks entered Saturday ranking 23rd in the country averaging 10 steals per game. Only three SEC teams were averaging a higher number in the category.
Thiero and Wagner have been the catalysts for this havoc-inducing defense that ranks 20th in KenPom’s defensive efficiency metric, and the Hogs are generating easy baskets off the turnovers.
Richmond and Knox at different stages
In a mild surprise, Billy Richmond III looks more ready to contribute at both ends than Karter Knox. Richmond is playing four more minutes per game than his fellow freshman and has earned Calipari’s trust defensively, despite being the lower-rated recruit in the 2024 class.
Knox is starting to come along, though, and he scored six points with four rebounds in Saturday’s win.
Calipari wasn’t kidding about his small roster
Even with the injuries, Calipari hasn’t played any members of his roster that fall outside his nine rotational pieces. There was some hope guys like Casmir Chavis and Melo Sanchez would feature, but they’ve combined for eight garbage-time minutes against Maryland Eastern Shore.
