All Hogs

Live Blog: Arkansas Razorbacks vs. Little Rock Trojans

Former Razorbacks All-American Darrell Walker looks to land big win over Hall of Famer John Calipari

Kent Smith

Arkansas Razorbacks Adou Thiero finishes off a dunk against the Pacific Tigers at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
Arkansas Razorbacks Adou Thiero finishes off a dunk against the Pacific Tigers at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. / Nilsen Roman-Hogs on SI Images
In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Former Arkansas All-American Darrell Walker brings Little Rock, known to much of the state still as UALR, to Bud Walton Arena for a rare showdown against the Razorbacks.

The Trojans, who finished in a three-way tie for the Ohio Valley Conference championship last season, are picked to repeat as regular season champions once again. The Trojans have already lost to one in-state school after former Razorbacks Derrian Ford and Joseph Pinion combined for 20 points in an 80-63 win for the Arkansas State Red Wolves.

Hogs vs. Trojans Part III ... technically

The Razorbacks won the only official game, 93-78, on Dec. 4, 2021, in Bud Walton Arena.  JD Notae scored 18 points (16 in the second half) and Au’Diese Toney scored 18 points (16 in the first half) to lead #9/10 Arkansas. The Trojans got to within nine points twice inside the final seven minutes before Notae spurred two mini runs to keep Arkansas comfortably in the lead.

The charity exhibition was on Oct. 28, 2019 — a game Arkansas dedicated Nolan Richardson Court in Bud Walton Arena (Oct. 20, 2019). Arkansas won, 79-64. Isaiah Joe led the Hogs with 25 points, going 8-of-17 from 3-point, while Jeantal Cylla added 13 points and Jimmy Whitt Jr., had nine rebounds.

Razorback ties

Many were looking at this game as a chance for KK Robinson to prove to Arkansas what the Razorbacks missed out on after he left during the Eric Musselman regime. Robinson went to Texas A&M before coming home to play for the Trojans where he averaged just shy of 16 points last season.

This was supposed to be his big year to leap into the national spotlight, but a knee injury in late October has kept him out all season. There is no expectation Robinson will play.

One other connection, Creed Williamson, son of former Arkansas star Corliss Williamson from the 1994 national championship team, is expected to be on the court.

Starting line-up

1ST HALF:

Adou Thiero gets points on goal-tending and Boogie Fland with a steal and a lay-up followed by a Johnell Davis steal and dunk to get the Hogs up 7-0 in a blink. DJ Wagner gets another steal and it has been three straight possessions with a steal.

Boogie Fland rocks a Trojan to sleep, then breaks his ankles as he blows by for the lay-up and it's 11-0 in less than four minutes. Ivisic blocks one ito the front row, then Thiero picks off an inbounds pass in stride and goes the distance for a dunk before a running lob to Ivisic for the alley-oop adn it's 15-3 in what has been a master class this first five minutes.

Arkansas comes up with another steal and at this point, fans have to be on alert for a possible school record, especially if this keeps up.

Pennyfeather hits a short jumper to cut the lead back to single digits at 17-8 as Little Rock takes advantage of a short spurt of sloppy play by Arkansas. However, Ivisic runs to the top of the key and drains a three to kill the run to streetch the lead back out to a dozen.

Ivisic with the block sets up the transition and Thiero is doing chin-ups on the rim once again. Fland then ends the Hogs' three-point drought and Arkansas is up 25-11 midway through the half.

Another steal and the Hogs now have eight steals in 11 minutes. Arkansas is really doing a great job of moving the ball as the Trojans can't shift defensively fast enough to avoid giving up the wide open shot.

As noted earlier, KK Robinson is out. He is now expected to be done for the season. However, Creed Williamson is also out with injury, so there is no Razorback connection tonight as Little Rock is without a pair of key starters.

The Arkansas defense has been smothering. The Hogs used it to set up a three-on-none fast break, then Wagner hit a pair of threes, one off a steal, then Bland buried a three and just like that, the Hogs are now up 39-17 with just under four minutes left.

Calipari just had a long conversation with one of the referees followign a foul on DJ Wagner. Watching his demeanor made it clear he knows how to get his point across without hurting his team, which is an aspect of the game Eric Musselman did not display over his years in Fayetteville.

Arkansas has suddenly gone cold, allowing Little Rock to slowly chip away at the lead. The Trojans aren't really a threat, but it's now 39-22 with under a minute to play.

Boogie Fland ends the drought by drawing the foul and then offering up an ugly looking two-handed shot that looked like a soccer inbounds pass. He may have gotten the benefit of a favorable call as it somehow spins in along the rim and he is credited with the basket. Fland hits the free throw and it's a 20-point lead once again with 45 seconds left in the half.

Arkansas stats at halftime.
Arkansas stats at halftime. / Statbroadcast.com

2ND HALF:

Arkansas forced nine turnovers that turned into 15 points and we've got a bit of drama to start the game. Wilkinson went up to block the shot on Thiero and his arms curled around the ball.

Wilkinson tried to keep possession of the ball, but didn't let go as he drug Thiero around once Wilkinson went out of bounds. Wilkinson was technically standing over Thiero who immediately jumped up and then Ivisic pushed Wilkinson and the refs are going to take a look at this on the monitor.

They're going to rule this a common foul on Wilkinson, Ivisic gets a stern warning from the ref and that will be all that comes of all that craziness.

Ante Beljan, Ivisic's old 16U Croatian National teammate, draws the foul on Ivisic while hitting the lay-up and it's now 44-29 after the free throw. The Trojans then hit a quick bucket and it's 13 points after trailing by 20+ for a long time last half.

Arkansas has opened the half with sloppy play. Air balls, lazy passes, lack of focus. However, everyone knows who snapped the Razorbacks back into it. Thiero with a hook over two defenders while drawing the foul and the free throw. Then he comes back down the floor with a dramatic windmill dunk in traffic to extend the lead back out to 49-31.

Scary moment for Arkansas. Freshman Billy Richmond went up for a dunk and appeared to get hung up on the rim and fell hard, breaking the fall with his face. Somehow he shakes off the cobwebs and knocks down a pair of free throws to make it 51-33.

Wilkinson hits back-to-back shots, then out of a Calipari timeout, gets the steal and throws it to Beljan for a dunk. Then the Trojans get another basket and in the span of a few seconds, Little Rock has cut the lead to 51-43.

Press defense has kept Arkansas off balance and the Hogs haven't hit a shot in nearly five minutes. A three by Lawson makes it 55-48, but in a moment of bad news for Little Rock, Wilkinson appears to have hurt his knee fighting for an offensive rebound against Ivisic.

Wilkinson has 18 points and has been the fire for the Trojans in this comeback. He's been doing all the dirty work, but he just went back to the locker room for treatment.

The Razorbacks had a chance to push the lead back to 12, but Ivisic decided to dribble up on the fast break and attempted to throw an ally-oop to a pair of guards. Not only did he miss badly, causing Richmond to go out with a cramp, but Lawson went down and hit a lay-up and the free throw to get it back to seven points at 58-51.

Arkansas uses a few free throws to ease the lead out, then the Hogs finally start moving the ball again and Fland knocks down a three to get some breathing room at 65-51 with 7:55 left to play.

The Trojans cut it back to 10 with under seven minutes left, but Wagner drilled a three from way behind the arc to put a stopper in another extended stretch of momentum to run it back out at 68-55. Thiero currently has 21 points and Fland has 16. Wagner hasn't done much to move the box score, but he just hit a second three from the corner and he's up to 11 as the Hogs are starting to pull way, now up by 15.

Arkansas is showing an area where there is a need for education. The Hogs ran down the floor, threw one pass and jacked up a three.

The Trojans rebounded it and ran down the floor for a quick lay-up to stay in contention. The Hogs have to learn the value of being patient with a double-digit lead to make it mathematically impossible for a team to come back. Instead of possibly being a 16-point lead with under three minutes to play, it's 74-62 with 3:22 left.

Lawson hits a three and it's now an eight-point lead with just over two minutes left as Arkansas has gone cold again. Were it not for the Trojans being cold before that three, this would be a toss-up game. Even still, Beljan caught a ball wide open under the basket and had the chance to make it a two-possession game, but bobbled it for a second and Thiero blocked it.

Thiero then went down and caught the fast break ally-oop from Fland on the following possession. It should be noted that he has seven rebounds, six steals and two blocks in addition to his 23 points. Someone's going to have to start seriously considering Theiro for Player of the Year watch lists.

Final box score for Arkansas Razorbacks.
Final box score for Arkansas Razorbacks. / statbroadcast.com

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Kent Smith
KENT SMITH

Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments. 

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