FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach John Calipari beat Troy 65-49 to win the 857th game of his coaching career, but he won’t earn any style points. The Hogs improved to 2-1 on the season, but he probably won’t include that in his career highlights.

Perhaps the biggest news was that Zvonimir Ivisic was finally showing the team’s three-point potential. This is my first time coming off the bench. Ivisic went 6-of-7 from beyond the arc and scored a career-high 19 points. He hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 32, finally opening up an offense that had been completely ineffective up to that point.

While Ivisic, Adou Thiero and Boogie Fland reached double figures, the Razorbacks scored 39 of their 65 points in the second half.

From there, the sleeping beast slowly began to wake up. Arkansas scored seven quick points thanks to two easy baskets by Thiero and a corner three by Fland.

For the third straight game, Arkansas spent the first half sleepwalking recklessly.

Nothing happened for the Razorbacks in the first half. The formality of even an open dunk at this level of college basketball is quite demanding. Ivisic picked up two quick fouls. The three-point shooting woes appeared to be getting worse.

Trevon Brazile, who already received little or no performance from Jonas Aidoo due to his injury, left the field in pain with an ankle injury after making his first start of the season. Fland also limped to the bench late in the second half but returned to the game.

But despite playing a completely ugly half of basketball, the team trailed 27-26 at halftime. Troy was unable to capitalize on Arkansas’ slow start. The Hogs committed 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, and despite shooting 38% to Arkansas’ 30%, both teams took the same number of shots (10).

Arkansas will look to get off to a better start against Pacific. The Tipoff is scheduled for Monday at 7pm and will be broadcast on SEC+.

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