Big Z’s big night lifts Razorbacks to first comfortable home SEC win over LSU

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas’ 70-58 win over LSU on Wednesday night left a lot of the crowd at Bud Walton Arena walking out saying, “it’s about time.”

Don’t get too carried away with that. They do have a road trip to face Texas A&M on Saturday and that’s not going to be easy, but this is a game the Razorbacks just about had to win. Getting a double-digit margin was just a bonus.

Maybe another big part of the optimism right now is 7-2 Zvonimir Ivisic coming up with 25 points and four rebounds. The Hogs overcame a stumbling start and being behind at halftime to finally do what folks were expecting when John Calipari was hired last April.

We’ll have to find out later what he thought about the win because he substituted assistant coach Chin Coleman.

“First, I want to apologize for Coach (Cal) not being here,” Coleman said later. “I know you guys probably wanted Gladys Knight. You got one of the Pips, so I’m happy to step in for Gladys tonight.”

Game: Won
Job: Not done pic.twitter.com/1lAlzFf3Bq

— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) February 13, 2025

Big Z was the obvious topic for discussion because he hasn’t had a game like that all season. His skillset became the popular word of the postgame.

“We’re taking advantage of his skillset,” Coleman said. “Z is a unique individual in terms of his size, his skill, his ability at 7-2 and his ability to play on the inside and outside. He’s probably one of the better 3-point shooters in the country. Definitely in our league.

“Coach is doing a good job of utilizing his skillset, and the one person that is more simple in terms of schematics, in terms of defensive schematics, is a pick-and-pop 4. A pick-and-pop 5.

“You can pretty much get a shot for the guy when you want to get a shot for that guy, because typical, normal 5-men aren’t used to guarding some of those actions that we put Z in. You can kind of find a way to get a shot for someone with Z’s skillset.”

HOGS WIN pic.twitter.com/gh1lc9qtcT

— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) February 13, 2025

At times, Ivisic can lapse into a guy 7-foot-2 trying to play point guard, but that part of the problem he brings for defenses. The Tigers tried some switching on him but it never really worked out well because his was on shooting three-pointers.

“He obviously can score on all three levels,” Coleman said. “For me, I was so excited and happy for Z that he didn’t just love the three. He liked the three some tonight, and he loved the rim as well.

“Whenever Z can play outside, make threes, and he did rim-rum. He caught some passes and dunked. He caught some rolls on the rim instead of just popping every time, makes him a dual-threat.

“In terms of what we’re trying to do offensively, it gives us that look on both him rolling to the rim, him picking-and-popping, now you’re at a disadvantage because you don’t know if he’s rolling. You don’t know if he’s popping. If you want to twirl a guard on him, and then we throw it inside, it’s like, it’s tough. That’s a tough matchup for a lot of teams.”

Ivisic was 10-of-13 from the field, including 3=of-5 from 3-point range, with four dunks. As well as he played, head coach John Calipari praised Billy Richmond III for his energy and effort saying, “he changed the game.”

Arkansas Razorbacks forward Zvonimir Ivisic against the LSU Tigers at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-HitThatLine.com

Richmond finished with four points, four assists and three rebounds. Those four points came during a 6-0 run that put the Hogs up eight with 12:30 to play and the Razorbacks held the lead the rest of the game.

After a back-and-forth first half, LSU scored first to start the second half and led by three. The teams traded baskets until the game was tied at 41 with 16:05 left. Karter Knox broke the tie to give the Hogs a lead it would not relinquish. However, LSU stayed close before that decisive 6-0 run to give Arkansas its eight-point lead, which was the largest lead of the night be either team to that point.

Arkansas won several key stats that led to the victory. Arkansas out-rebounded LSU, 39-33. The Razorbacks are 11-1 this season when out-rebounding their opponent. Arkansas only committed 10 fouls, the second-fewest by the Hogs in an SEC game. With that, LSU was just 3-of-6 from the free throw line, compared the Tigers going 26-of-28 at the line versus Arkansas earlier this season.

Arkansas Razorbacks guard Johnell Davis against the LSU Tigers at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-HitThatLine.com

Johnell Davis, who was a team-best +16, scored 11 points and continued his strong defense by getting three steals. D.J. Wagner added 10 points and seven assists.

Robert Miller III led LSU with 16 points off the bench. Cam Carter had 13 points. He and Jordan Spears combined for 44 points in the teams’ first meeting, but only had 15 combined points tonight.

Arkansas will hit the road for back-to-back road games, facing #8/9 Texas A&M on Saturday at 11 am (CT) followed by a game at current #1 Auburn on Wednesday.

Arkansas Razorbacks guard DJ Wagner against the LSU Tigers at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-HitThatLine.com

FIRST HALF: LSU 35, Arkansas 34

• The first half was a back-and-forth contest with five ties and eight lead changes. Arkansas led for 10:08 and LSU led for 8:07. The largest lead was five points for Arkansas and five points for LSU.

• The last lead change came in the final seconds of the half when Vyktorius Miller hit a 3-pointer with four ticks left.

• Arkansas had eight assists, including five from D.J. Wagner, on 13 made baskets and LSU had 10 assists on 15 made baskets.

• Zvonimir Ivisic had three blocked shots in the first half and led the Hogs with 11 points.

Arkansas Razorbacks forward Adou Thiero against the LSU Tigers at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-HitThatLine.com

SECOND HALF: Arkansas 36, LSU 23

• Arkansas went on a run starting at the 13:53 mark in the second half, thanks to four points from Billy Richmond III and a Adou Thiero jumper, and the Razorbacks led by eight (53-45) with 12:29 left which was the largest lead by either team up to that point.

• LSU had 10 assists in the first half, three in the second half.

• Ivisic had 14 points in the second half, going 6-of-7 from the field.

• Arkansas shot 60% from the field in the half while holding LSU to 35.7%.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari on the sidelines against the LSU Tigers at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-HitThatLine.com

GAME NOTES:

• For the fourth-straight game, Arkansas’ starting lineup was D.J. Wagner, Johnell Davis, Karter Knox, Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivisic.

• Arkansas won the opening tip. The Hogs have won the tip 13 of 21 games this season.

• Cam Carter scored the game’s first points with a 3-pointer at 19:38. Zvonimir Ivisic scored Arkansas’ first points with a layup at 17:51.

• Jonas Aidoo was Arkansas’ first sub.

• Arkansas trailed by one at the half but came back to win. The Razorbacks are 6-7 this year when trailing at the half.

• Arkansas held LSU to 1-of-5 shooting from 3-point range in the second half. Over the last seven games, Arkansas is holding its opponents to 21.4% (12-of-56) from 3-point range in the second half.

• Arkansas blocked seven shots. Making the 15th time this season it has blocked at least five shots in a game.

• Arkansas has won six of the last nine meetings versus LSU and leads the all-time series, 44-37. The Hogs lead 25-8 in games played in Fayetteville.

• Since joining the SEC, Arkansas leads the series 40-32 overall.

• Ivisic scored a career-high 27 points in his last outing (vs Alabama). With his 25 points versus LSU, it marked his only two times to score at least 20 points in his career.

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.