NEW YORK — Boogie Fland and DJ Wagner both celebrated a homecoming inside Madison Square Garden, where Arkansas basketball‘s starting backcourt sparked a much-needed victory.
Fland and Wagner were the Razorbacks‘ (8-2) best players in an 89-87 win over No. 14 Michigan (8-2) Tuesday night at the Jimmy V Classic.
They combined for 36 points, 12 assists and just two turnovers. They were the types of performances John Calipari envisioned when he brought Wagner with him from Kentucky and signed Fland out of high school, and the duo showed off their sky-high potential to a national audience.
“It shows what it can be, what we have the potential to be,” Fland said. “Our ceiling, there’s really no ceiling. Just like if we come together like we should with time.”
Fland has been spectacular all season. ESPN recently ranked him as the No. 8 freshman in America, and he’s averaging 15.5 points and 5.4 assists through the first nine games of his college career.
The Bronx, N.Y., native scored 20 points and had seven assists in front of friends and family Tuesday night. He powered a first-half comeback after Michigan went up 15 points, starting with aggressive drives to the basket that earned him trips to the free-throw line. Eventually, he started to knock down his signature step-back jumpers and floaters.
Perspective normally takes time, but Fland could appreciate the moment immediately after his first-ever game inside the most storied basketball arena across the globe.
“I had over 100 people here,” Fland said. “So just for them to be able to see me play in person, most of my career, they haven’t been able to see me. Especially being the first time at the Garden, and we get the win, it’s not more special than that.”
Wagner hasn’t yet matched Fland’s consistency this season, but he made the difference against the Wolverines. Calipari has consistently praised the sophomore guard’s selflessness in pursuit of his victory.
On Tuesday, the Hogs needed all of his season-high 16 points and five assists from the Camden, N.J., native.
Wagner had a stretch during the second half when he made six straight shots, including a pair of momentum-building 3-pointers. Arkansas’ lead grew from 50-49 to 73-60 during that run.
“DJ shooting floaters. He got to the rim some. Making threes,” Calipari said. “He’s like the best players I’ve had, how hard he works and what he does and how much time he spends in the gym.”
Tuesday was just the third time this season Wagner made at least 50% of his shots. Fland got to atone for his poor performance in Arkansas’ last marquee matchup, a loss to Illinois on Thanksgiving.
The schedule is about to become exponentially more difficult in the SEC, but the Hogs will be right there with the top teams in the league if they can find consistency in Fland and Wagner’s partnership.
“It’s all a work in progress. We just try to get better 1% every day at any little thing, any little fixes we can make,” Wagner said. “We know we got a lot of great teams coming up that we are going to play against… but at the end of the day, we are still focused on ourselves and getting better.”
