Coach John Calipari pledged to teach Arkansas “how to win and how to finish games” after the Razorbacks pulled away from Troy on Wednesday night.
As No. 20 Arkansas prepares for a visit from Pacific on Monday night in Fayetteville, Ark., forward Zvonimir Ivisic already can recite the top of the lesson plan.
“When you play good defense and then when you start running, you get, you know, you start to elevate. Playing better,” Ivisic said. “You make one transition, then you play good defense again.”
Arkansas (2-1) created distance from Troy when aggressive defense finally began paying dividends on offense in the Razorbacks’ 65-49 victory.
The Razorbacks shot 29.4 percent from the field in the first half compared with 63.6 percent in the second half and collected 11 of their 14 assists after the break.
There also were shortcomings, namely a minus-seven margin in rebounding, but Calipari said he sees promise as non-conference play continues.
“This is a good group. I’m enjoying coaching them,” he said. “I’m holding them to a high standard. I’m telling them that. I don’t back up. This is what it is. How do you finish a game? How do you massage the ball? How do you get open late? You can’t just jog around.”
Ivisic exhibited that urgency with 19 points — on 6-for-7 shooting from 3-point range — plus five blocks, both career bests.
Adou Thiero, who is averaging a team-high 17 points a game for the Razorbacks this seaon, also had 19 points along with seven rebounds against Troy, while teammate Boogie Fland contributed 12 points and seven assists.
Arkansas hopes to get a scoring spark from D.J. Wagner in the backcourt. While he had a solid floor game against Troy with five assists, four steals and two rebounds, Wagner went scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting over 37 minutes.
“He’s one of the greatest kids that I’ve ever coached. He is a player who plays to win,” Calipari said. “But we need him to score baskets, too. I told him the best shot he has is a floater. … Just kaboom, let it go.”
Pacific (3-2) is coming off a 60-57 home loss to Northern Arizona on Thursday.
Despite struggling to a 39.2 percent shooting night and committing 17 turnovers, the Tigers chipped away at a 15-point deficit before falling short down the stretch. An Elijah Fisher 3-pointer with 2 seconds remaining brought the Tigers to the final margin.
Elias Ralph paced Pacific with a double-double — 23 points and 11 rebounds — and added a career-best five assists. He surpassed the 20-point mark for the second time this season.
Ralph and Fisher, who chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds against Northern Arizona, have scored in double figures in each of Pacific’s five games.
Another constant for the Tigers: strong perimeter defense. Pacific has limited foes to sub-30 percent shooting from 3-point land in each game, including holding Northern Arizona to a 5-for-30 effort.
Arkansas figures to challenge that stoutness. Led by Ivisic’s hot hand, the Razorbacks finished 10-for-23 from beyond the arc against Troy, including a 2-for-3 effort from Fland.
–Field Level Media
