The No. 16 Arkansas Razorbacks suffered a 66-65 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs in a charity exhibition game Friday night at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
Arkansas was in control for a majority of the game, but the Horned Frogs out-scored the Hogs by six points in the final quarter and a late 3-pointer by TCU's Brendan Wenzel was the dagger the Horned Frogs needed to win the game.
Kentucky transfer Adou Thiero led Arkansas with 20 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four blocks in the game. Arkansas shot 42.6% from the field, 29.2% from three and 54.5% from the free throw line in the game, plus they turned the ball over 14 times.
The first quarter of play — they played four quarters, not two halves — was the Theiro show for Arkansas, as the Kentucky transfer totaled 14 of the 19 points for the Razorbacks, who trailed 20-19 at the end of the first 10 minutes. The Horned Frogs led by as much as four in the period, the Hogs took a lead with 17 seconds left and then TCU hit a three with 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter to lead by one when the buzzer sounded.
Arkansas opened the second quarter outscoring the Horned Frogs by one point over the first four minutes to knot the score up at 27-27 at the first stoppage of play in the period. Hogs' true freshman Billy Richmond III then slammed down a basket to give the Hogs a two-point advantage out of the break.
Four-star freshman Karter Knox out of Atlanta gave the Razorbacks a 35-31 lead with a 3-pointer at the 2:52 mark in the second quarter. The next bucket was a floater from fellow freshman Boogie Fland at the 1:26 mark and Knox added on with a jumper to make it 39-31, which is what the score ended up being at the halftime buzzer.
TCU ended the first half on a three-minute scoring drought, while the Razorbacks ended the first 20 minutes of play on a 7-0 run. Thiero's 14 points led all scorers at that point, and all eight Arkansas players that touched the court scored in the first half.
Arkansas held onto a 45-36 advantage over the Horned Frogs at a media timeout with 3:58 to play in the third quarter. Kentucky transfer D.J. Wagner had four of the six points in the quarter to that point.
TCU went on another three-minute scoring drought and the Razorbacks had four-straight made shots to force Horned Frogs' head coach Jamie Dixon to call for a timeout with his team down 54-41 with 1:40 left in the third quarter. The Horned Frogs then went on an 8-0 run to cut the Hogs' lead to five points at the end of three quarters.
The Horned Frogs capitalized on that momentum by cutting the deficit to two points with less than eight minutes to play, and that remained the case when Dixon called for a timeout with TCU down 60-58 at the 5:09 mark in the fourth following a Frankie Collins layup for the Horned Frogs.
Arkansas made it a five-point lead on a three from Fland, but the Horned Frogs refused to go away and it was just a 65-63 lead for the Hogs by the 3:20 mark. The score remained the same and the Hogs possessed the ball following a TCU turnover and Calipari signaled for a timeout with 1:28 left on the clock in the fourth quarter.
With 18 seconds left on the clock, TCU's Brendan Wenzel drilled a three from the wing to give the Horned Frogs a 66-65 lead. A three-point attempt from Fland at the buzzer was no good for the Hogs, who dropped their final exhibition before the regular season will begin.
Arkansas did not score in the final 3:28 of regulation and it missed all of its last six shots from the field in the game.
Up next, the Razorbacks will officially open the 2024-25 season Wednesday against Lipscomb at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
