The drought is over. Credit Tomislav Ivisic for opening the floodgates,
On Thursday in Kansas City, Ivisic scored 21 points and shot 6-for-9 from 3-point range to outplay his twin brother Zvonimir Ivisic and help Illinois shake out of its recent long-distance doldrums in the Illini’s 90-77 statement win over No. 19 Arkansas.
Illinois (6-1), which had entered the Thanksgiving Day matchup shooting 33.0 percent from 3 on the season (and just 28.2 percent over the past two games), broke loose to knock down 15 of 31 shots (48.4 percent) from beyond the arc against the Razorbacks (5-2).
Big Man 3⃣ @IlliniMBB pic.twitter.com/2angOypJvI
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) November 28, 2024
Ivisic hit his first two 3-point attempts as the Illini streaked out to an 11-0 lead – and they barely slowed down a tick through the first half, sinking 9 of 16 3-pointers before halftime. At the same time, Illinois played arguably its best defensive half of the season against the Razorbacks, who went 0-for-7 from 3 and coughed up 11 turnovers to trail 49-34 at the half.
Arkansas forward Adou Thiero did all he could to chip away at the deficit, bouncing into the paint and powering his way to a game-high 26 points. Thiero went 7-for-13 from the field and drew foul after foul to earn 21 free-throw attempts – but converted just 12.
Trading 2-pointers and semi-successful trips to the line with the Illini was a losing game on this day, as Ivisic and his mates spread the floor, hit shots and caught the aggressive Razorbacks in foul trouble – which partly explained a tough day for high-scoring freshman Boogie Fland, who finished with eight points on 2-for-12 shooting in just 25 minutes.
Zvonimir Ivisic helped make it interesting by matching his twin (roughly) blow for blow in the second half, scoring 11 of his 13 points after halftime. And when a Billy Richmond III dunk cut the Illini lead to nine with 4:13 left to play, the Razorbacks appeared prime to make a run.
But that’s when freshman point guard Kasparas Jakucionis (team-high 23 points, six rebounds and four assists) took control of the game with both hands, scoring a pair of free throws, knocking down a 3 and sinking a jumper to push the Illinois lead to 87-73 with less than two minutes to play, all but cinching it.
