In desperate need of their first Southeastern Conference victory, the Arkansas Razorbacks and coach John Calipari host the Georgia Bulldogs on Wednesday in Fayetteville, Ark.
Arkansas entered its first season under Calipari ranked No. 16 but has faceplanted following an 11-2 start in nonconference play. The Razorbacks (11-7, 0-5 SEC) have lost their first five games of 2025 and are inching further away from the NCAA Tournament picture.
On Saturday, Arkansas fell behind 18-2 at Missouri en route to an 83-65 loss. Calipari is no stranger to the SEC after coaching the previous 15 years at Kentucky, but this year’s version of the conference might be the best he’s ever seen.
“The whole league is physical, and they’ve all got good players and good coaches,” Calipari said. “This is a hard league. We’re going to have to figure stuff out. We’ve had our chances to win a couple of games, and we didn’t. This team hasn’t stopped fighting.”
Zvonimir Ivisic led Arkansas with 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench against Missouri. Ivisic averages 7.3 points per game for the Razorbacks, who are led by Adou Thiero (16.4 ppg) and Boogie Fland (15.1).
Arkansas put up 82.5 points per game during nonconference play but has averaged just 64 against SEC defenses. The Razorbacks are shooting just 25.2 percent from 3-point range in league play.
Georgia (14-4, 2-3) seeks to snap a two-game skid and notch its first win in Fayetteville since February 2011.
After knocking off a pair of ranked foes in Kentucky and Oklahoma, the Bulldogs fell at then-No. 6 Tennessee 74-56 last Wednesday before dropping a heartbreaker at home against No. 1 Auburn on Saturday, 70-68.
Georgia trailed the Tigers by nine with 33 seconds left before a furious rally gave the Bulldogs a chance to send the game to overtime, but Asa Newell’s floater fell off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
“It’s just discouraging because you only have a chance to compete against the No. 1 team so often and we were right there,” Georgia coach Mike White said. “I feel for our guys because they played really, really hard. But when you’re playing some of the best teams in the country, your warts are exposed a little bit.”
Newell, who collected 16 points and 10 rebounds Saturday, leads Georgia with 15.3 points and 6.8 boards per contest. Dakota Leffew chips in 11.8 ppg and Silas Demary Jr. adds 11.7.
