No. 16 Arkansas impressed in its 85-69 exhibition win over No. 1 Kansas at Bud Walton Arena on Friday. Here are several quick hits, notes, highlights and observations following a fun night in Fayetteville.
Pregame Notes
- Arkansas and Kansas played four 10-minute quarters with head coaches John Calipari and Bill Self mic’d up for the SEC Network broadcast.
- Both teams were a bit shorthanded for Friday’s exhibition. Kansas was without Hunter Dickinson, Rylan Griffen and Shakeel Moore. Jonas Aidoo, Jaden Karuletwa and Melo Sanchez were out for the Razorbacks.
- The loudest ovations during team introduction went to returning forward Trevon Brazile, and, of course, John Calipari.
- Boogie Fland, DJ Wagner, Karter Knox, Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic were Arkansas’ starting lineup. Kansas went with Dajuan Harris, Zeke Mayo, AJ Storr, KJ Adams and Flory Bidunga.
- For unknown reasons, both teams were wearing white jerseys with white shorts on Friday.
1st Quarter Observations
- DJ Wagner popped right out of the gates with a pair of early three-pointers, a welcome sight for the sophomore guard after shooting just 29% from distance at Kentucky last season. Wagner also got the crowd going multiple times with his stingy on-ball defense.
- Boogie Fland was the first freshman to flash for Arkansas. After taking a hard spill under the rim early, he settled in with an array of tough mid-range jumpers, a beautiful steal and transition lob off the backboard to Trevon Brazile and piled up eight points and three assists in the first quarter alone while looking calm, cool and collected on-ball as the point guard.
- Arkansas has some individual tenacity on the defensive end. Adou Thiero joined Wagner as physical defenders, and the Razorbacks were flying around early.
- The Hogs shot 66.7% from the field in the first quarter and led 25-17 at the end of the period.
2nd Quarter Observations
- Big Z made it big three to push Arkansas’ lead to double-digits, but it was sandwiched between an pair of misses in which he took three perimeter jumpers in a row. While it is definitely an important part of his game, this is why Calipari has emphasized him working on other things in practice.
- Quiet start for Johnell Davis, who has missed quite a bit of time lately with a wrist injury. His first shot attempt was a missed three midway through the quarter, but he quickly came up with a steal and hit a streaking Karter Knox on the money for a layup in transition. Still, the longer he went without a basket, the more it felt like he was forcing it with some iso creation.
- Not only was Boogie Fland holding his own against DaJuan Harris, he probably won the matchup clearly in the first half on both ends. He jumped a passing lane for a steal late in the quarter and finished through a Harris fould to push Arkansas’ lead back out to double-digits. He followed the next possession by beating him backdoor for a layup.
- Impossible not to be impressed with Arkansas after a half carrying a 12-point lead into the break. From the Tip-Off Tour to tonight, the Razorbacks were more in sync, in shape and intense than I expected them to be. Offense was not clunky or cluttered, few stretches of stagnation, defense was flying around.
3rd Quarter Observations
- Big Z started to come on strong in the third quarter. He brought the house down with a drop step and slam on a post up, started impacting the game more around the rim and blocked a perimeter jumper. It was a prime example of the potential he has as a versatile forward for Arkansas.
- Perhaps the most impressive part of the night was Arkansas’ defense. Kansas was unable to find any rhythm or flow on the offensive end of the floor as the Razorbacks were disruptive and gap sound with strong communication thorughout.
- It was easy to see there was some rush with Davis’ game as he struggled to find his stride most of the night, but it was nice to see him step into and knock down a triple midway through the quarter.
4th Quarter Observations
- The first thing that stood out early in the fourth quarter was, well, fatigue. Both teams looked tired in the early portions of the final frame, which is not entirely surprising with the two squads operating at less than full strength.
- Arkansas led by as many as 18 in the fourth quarter before Kansas made a quick 6-0 push to force a Calipari timeout and challenge the Razorbacks to finish down the stretch. No sooner than the Jayhawks threatened, Fland and Wagner both came up with steals and coast-to-coast finishes to give the Hogs more breathing room.
- There is plenty to work on for Arkansas overall and when it comes to closing games as Calipari pointed out a couple late turnovers on baseline inbounds, but it is hard to nitpick too much from the first dress rehearsal for the Razorbacks.