FAYETTEVILLE — John Calipari spent a chunk of his post-game press conference Saturday night praising the fight of his Arkansas basketball team.
The Hall of Fame coach applauded his team’s ability to erase a 13-point deficit in the first half and hang tough for a second straight SEC game without freshman star Boogie Fland, but it wasn’t enough.
The Razorbacks (12-8, 1-6 SEC) fell to Oklahoma 65-62, failing to capitalize on the momentum from a first conference victory against Georgia Wednesday night.
In Calipari’s eyes, Arkansas did enough to win, but key mistakes in the second half prevented the Hogs from putting the game to bed, and they could not cross the finish line.
“One error. Two errors, but guys, that’s going to be this whole year,” Calipari said. “That’s what it’s going to be. So, some of the things that you would say, ‘oh my gosh, why’d he do that?’ Those are the things we can’t do.”
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The most decisive blow came midway through the second half.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic gave the Hogs a 50-44 lead with 10:06 remaining. Bud Walton Arena was buzzing like a hornet’s nest, and Ivisic’s 3-pointer felt like the kind of tide-turner that could morph a close game into a blowout.
But Arkansas made two painful mistakes that ruined any potential run. On Oklahoma’s next two possessions, Johnell Davis and Ivisic fouled Sooners on 3-point shots. Oklahoma’s Luke Northweather and Jeremiah Fears made all six free throws, and Arkansas’ biggest advantage of the night disappeared in a flash.
“We fouled two 3-point shooters, and I have to watch the tape, but I imagine they did foul or they wouldn’t have called them,” Calipari said. “Execution down the stretch, we did some good stuff, maybe didn’t finish it off.”
The Sooners and Hogs went back-and-forth after the two costly fouls. Neither team led by more than two points until there was less than a second on the clock.
Later on, an Oklahoma offensive foul gave Arkansas the ball with 27.3 seconds remaining and trailing by one. After a Calipari timeout, Arkansas tried to feed Ivisic on a post-up. The 7-foot-2 big had seven second-half points and a pair of successful short hooks, but Oklahoma played tight defense and denied the entry pass. No other players could get free, and Calipari called another timeout.
The result was a wild layup attempt from Davis, cutting off a back-door pass from Ivisic. He got to the paint, but Davis’ shot was out-of-control and Oklahoma turned the miss into a dunk at the other end to seal the win.
The Hogs had two late chances to create a quality shot. On both occasions, a sloppy possession ended with the ball not even touching the rim.
“We messed it up a little bit,” Ivisic said. “I don’t know, concentration or something. I don’t even know. We still fought.”
Ivisic believes Arkansas is still on the right track. Without Fland, he and Davis have come alive offensively. Davis had a season-high 18 points Saturday, while Ivisic played his best game of the SEC slate with 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks. D.J. Wagner scored 13 as Arkansas went 9 for 27 from 3-point range and only had nine turnovers.
Calipari said after the game that those numbers should lead to a victory, but mistakes got in the way. Now, Arkansas is falling further down the SEC pecking order with the calendar turning to February.
The Razorbacks will open the next month on the road against No. 9 Kentucky for Calipari’s reunion, hoping the ‘right track’ paves the way to a meaningful victory in this first year of a new era.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Costly 3-point fouls ruin Arkansas basketball’s comeback bid against Oklahoma
