Zvonimi Ivisic sparks No. 18 Arkansas against Troy

No. 18 Arkansas rode a hot second half from Zvonimi Ivisic to overcome a pesky Troy team 65-49 in a nonconference home win on Wednesday night in Fayetteville, Ark.

Ivisic, who scored 19 points and blocked five shots, provided a second-half spark off the bench as he shot 5 of 6 from 3-point range and scored 16 points after intermission. Adou Thiero also had 19 points and added seven rebounds while Boogie Fland added 12 points.

Jackson Fields led Troy with 13 points while Myles Rigsby added 12.

Using its 2-3 zone, Troy (2-1) thwarted the Razorbacks' offensive flow. In the first half, Arkansas (2-1) shot an air ball on its first possession for a shot-clock violation, missed two dunks, shot 29 percent from the field and made just 2 of 11 shots from 3-point range.

Even with 12 first-half turnovers, Troy was able to hold a 27-26 halftime lead. The Razorbacks caught fire from the field in the second half, shooting 64 percent from the field and 67 percent from 3-point range.

Arkansas used a 13-4 second-half run to turn a one-point lead into a 10-point advantage, as Fland's corner 3 in transition gave the Hogs a 48-38 lead with under 11 minutes to play. Ivisic scored nine straight Razorback points on the 3-pointers as the Razorbacks' lead grew to 57-43 with 5:26 left in the game.

Troy entered the game holding opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from the field and a Rigsby 3 allowed the Trojans to jump out to a 6-3 lead at the first media timeout. Rigsby hit a short jumper and converted the three-point play to give Troy an 11-5 lead at the 13:58 mark of the first half.

An 8-0 run gave Arkansas its only lead in the first half at 18-16 on a Johnell Davis jumper at the 6:13 mark. But Rigsby and Fields hit 3-pointers to put Troy back up 21-18.

Fland's first points of the game came off a 3 that tied the game 21-21 with 3:32 to go in the first half.

--Field Level Media`