FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — John Calipari won his debut as Arkansas‘ coach when the 16th-ranked Razorbacks held off a second-half rally by Lipscomb and pulled away for a 76-60 victory Wednesday night.
“We did good stuff. It was a good first win against a team’s that’s going to win a lot of games,” Calipari said.
Freshman guard Boogie Fland scored 17 points and Florida Atlantic transfer Johnell Davis had 15 for Arkansas.
Calipari, who left Southeastern Conference rival Kentucky after last season, had previously been booed incessantly whenever stepping foot in Bud Walton Arena.
That all changed when Eric Musselman, who coached Arkansas to three Sweet 16s in five seasons, departed last spring for USC and Calipari bolted from the bluegrass of Kentucky for the foothills of the Ozarks.
“I’m happy to be coaching here. I’m happy. I’m loving the team,” Calipari said.
His new team looked a lot like his old ones.
Lipscomb (1-1), the Atlantic Sun preseason favorite, put a scare into the Razorbacks (1-0) with a second-half run to pull to within four points with just under seven minutes to play. Arkansas had led by 15 in the second half.
Zvonimir Ivisic, one of seven players to make their Razorbacks debut Wednesday, hit a 3-pointer, a layup and two free throws in the span of a minute to stop the Bisons.
Ivisic finished with 12 points. Jacob Ognacevic led Lipscomb with 16.
Arkansas gets its first power-conference challenge of the season Saturday when the Razorbacks travel to Dallas for a neutral-site game against No. 8 Baylor, which is coming off a 101-63 loss at No. 6 Gonzaga.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.