Three storylines follow in the duel between Arkansas and Michigan

The Arkansas Razorbacks (7-2, 0-0 SEC) travel to the Big Apple where they will face the No. 14 Michigan Wolverines (8-1, 2-0 Big 12) on Tuesday night in the legendary Jimmy V Classic in Madison Square Garden.

Arkansas is one of four teams competing in the event, which has been held since 1995 and has been held at the Garden since 2003. Arkansas is joined by Michigan, Tennessee and Miami, the latter a team the Razorbacks narrowly defeated 76-73 on the road last week.

The Hogs and Wolverines are playing the second game of the Jimmy V Classic this year, marking the eighth time both programs have met on the field. One occasion came at MSG in the 1997 NIT semifinals, when Michigan earned a 77-62 victory over Arkansas en route to winning the entire tournament.

This year both teams have new head coaches. John Calipari took over at Arkansas, while Dusty May takes over at Michigan after the program parted ways with Juwan Howard last year.

May gets off to a flying start, defeating Michigan 8-1 with two wins over ranked opponents (No. 22 Xavier and No. 11 Wisconsin). Calipari had his team ranked in the top 25 through the first four weeks of the season, but the Razorbacks were eliminated after a 90-77 loss to Illinois on Thanksgiving Day.

Arkansas is 3-8 all-time at Madison Square Garden, having won a playoff game to represent the United States in the 1936 Olympics, a series of games in the 1940s, two games in the 1997 NIT and two games in the NIT the 1990 preseason.

HawgBeat has three storylines to watch for Tuesday’s match between the Hogs and Wolverines:

New York City has produced some of the greatest basketball players of all time. People like Carmelo Anthony, Chris Mullin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Pearl Washington and others came from the Big Apple. Boogie Fland may not be able to make his mark among these players yet, but there’s no denying that he has the talent to do so one day.

Fland actually played his high school basketball down the street from downtown New York City at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, but he’s from the Bronx and a New York kid.

He’ll play his first college game in his hometown on Tuesday, which might give him a little extra motivation.

“Playing in New York, my hometown, just coming out there with a W, not changing anything, not doing too much,” Fland told reporters after the game in Miami. “Just stick with our plan and fall in love with what we do.”

Despite a few games where he looked like a rookie, Fland has played like a future lottery pick in the Razorbacks’ first nine games. He is the Hogs’ second-leading scorer and averages 15.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game.

The Razorbacks need Fland to be at his best on the big stage on Tuesday if they want to pull out a win. The Wolverines are a top-10 team in adjusted defensive efficiency and will give Arkansas problems if they can neutralize the Hogs’ top scoring guard.

One of the other guards on Arkansas’ roster probably has a little more motivation as well, as Tuesday’s game will pit Johnell Davis against his former head coach.

Davis came to Arkansas after a four-year stint at Florida Atlantic, where May was his head coach all four years. The two experienced great success as they reached a Final Four in 2023 and won a total of 92 games from 2020 to 2024.

The former All-AAC First Team selection had a difficult time after arriving in Fayetteville, as he battled injuries in the offseason that affected his ability to shoot the ball early.

However, it looks like he has started to utilize the corner a bit as he has become more confident in his attacking role and his shot is falling to the ground more often. He scored 13 points against UTSA, 12 against Miami and 16 against Maryland-Eastern Shore and has shot 53.3% from the field and 47.8% from deep in his last five games.

“Nelly’s play in the second half, I mean, you start to see it,” Arkansas head coach John Calipari said after the UTSA win. “He’ll just continue to come into his own. He is physical. Proud of him.”

It’s also worth noting that the move from Florida Atlantic to Arkansas came with a change in his role. When he played under May, Davis was the first choice almost every time and had a usage rate of 27.7%, meaning he was used often.

However, he plays a different role in Arkansas, where he is not required to facilitate at such a high level. After four years of being “the guy,” it makes sense that taking on a lesser role would be a change that takes time to sink in, and the fact that he missed time in the offseason makes it even more so more difficult.

Calipari is probably thanking his lucky stars that Jonas Aidoo has returned from his five-month injury layoff as the Hogs head into this game. Michigan has two 7-foot players who have turned heads this season – Vladislav Goldin and Danny Wolf.

Wolf averages 10 rebounds per game and Goldin adds 5.4 himself, and together they average 3.8 blocks per game and 12.1 points per game apiece.

Aidoo made his first start of the season against UTSA and played 27 minutes. During this time he brought in seven rebounds and scored eight points. Flirting with a double-double after missing so much time is a pretty good statistic, but the Hogs will need him to be the best version of himself on Tuesday.

“We know it’s going to be a dogfight, we haven’t really gotten into the film yet, but we’re all pretty familiar with the team because Nelly played for their coach, so we got a little insight from him,” Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile said Saturday. “We know they’re going to be physical, we know they’re going to run pick-and-rolls with the fours and fives, so we’ll go through that over the next few days.”

The big sticking point in the Razorbacks’ game is the health of center Zvonimir Ivisic. He rolled his ankle in practice last week and played sparingly against Miami. He didn’t show up at all against UTSA and Calipari said he didn’t have an update on his center until Saturday.

Big Z has a dual meaning on the floor. For one thing, his length suits Michigan’s bigs well, and with him on the floor, Arkansas could ideally neutralize any advantage Michigan might have down low.

The other side of Ivisic’s game is his ability to score from distance. The Croatian sensation is shooting an incredible 57.6% from distance and has averaged 12.6 points per game in his last five appearances.

If Big Z is unable to keep up, Calipari will have to rely on Brazile to give him big minutes. Brazile has incredible athleticism and can stretch the court offensively, but will be undersized compared to Michigan’s bigs, which could prove costly if the ball hits the post.

Arkansas and Michigan will kick off on Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT from Madison Square Garden. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

**CONVERSATION WITH ARKANSAS FANS ON TROUGH, HAWGBEAT’S PREMIUM MESSAGE BOARD**