The college basketball season has gone on long enough now for Big Blue Nation to get used to John Calipari wearing red. The new Arkansas coach just got his first ranked win in Fayetteville as the Hogs went to the Big Apple to take down the #14 Michigan Wolverines 89-87.

It was an up-and-down game for the Razorbacks, as they were down by double digits for a while. Arkansas then got a lead, but Michigan made a run right back at the Razorbacks. Michigan went on a 12-0 run to get right back in the game leading to a very fun finish.

The Razorbacks were able to get a stop to win the ball game, securing the team’s first big win of the season. While some Kentucky fans are still not happy with Calipari, this win is good for the SEC, which continues to prove it is the best conference in college hoops.

Former Wildcats DJ Wagner and Adou Thiero both played well in this game, helping lead the Hogs to victory. Wagner had 16 points on 7-12 shooting. The sophomore guard also went 2-3 from deep. Wagner dished five assists and pulled down three boards in the win.

Thiero had 13 points on 6-9 shooting. He also had four rebounds in the win for Arkansas. Thiero has been the best player this season for Arkansas, which Kentucky fans love to see as he was a fan favorite in Lexington.

It is going to be an ESPN Instant Classic when the Razorbacks make the trip to Lexington on February 1st.

At first, it appeared No. 14 Michigan would run John Calipari’s Arkansas team out of Madison Square Garden. Thanks to quick scoring bursts from Nimari Burnett and Will Tschetter in the first half, the Wolverines jumped out to a 15-point lead with just over six minutes to play in the first frame.

Then, though, the Razorbacks fought back. Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin, after the game, admitted that the team got a bit “complacent” after building their comfortable lead, and Arkansas had all of the momentum late in the first half, which carried over after the teams broke for halftime.

To begin the second half, Boogie Fland and D.J. Wagner made shot after shot, and on the other end of the floor, the Wolverines continued to shoot themselves in the foot with turnovers.

“Elite players force you to break down,” May said of Fland and Wagner after the game. “… I thought they made really good plays. Obviously we made some errors. We weren’t physical enough. They made some tough shots. … When elite players step up and make elite plays, we’re not talking about those. Obviously we always want to do a little bit better. We need to control the things — the turnovers, the defensive glass — much better if we’re going to be able to win these NCAA Tournament-type of games.”

Arkansas’ lead ballooned to 18 points midway through the second half, but a sudden change in momentum resulted in Michigan clawing its way back into the game.

Down one with less than a minute on the game clock, Michigan had the ball with a chance to take the lead, but Tre Donaldson stepped out of bounds, committing arguably the most costly turnover of the season — and there’s a large library to choose from.

On the next possession, Dusty May drew up an inbounds play for Danny Wolf to find Roddy Gayle Jr. on a backdoor cut. Ironically, though, Johnell Davis — May’s former star at Florida Atlantic — interrupted the pass and blew up the play, leading Calipari’s team to a sensational 89-87 victory.

After the game, May described what went wrong for the Wolverines in the loss. The main topic was turnovers, of which the Wolverines committed 17.

“The turnovers, emotionally, are deflating for us. When you get a quality look, even if you miss it, you’re in the flow of the game. When you turn it over, everyone kind of feels dejected, and then you don’t have the same sense of urgency on the defensive end.”

“(The turnovers) are coming in such an assortment of ways that it’s hard to identify what’s the most important thing. We’ve figured out a few things. Once again, I thought their physicality, speed, quickness definitely has an impact on turning the ball over.”

Michigan entered the contest averaging 15.1 turnovers per game, which is tied with Colorado and Virginia Tech for 334th in the nation. On Tuesday, the Wolverines’ 17 turnovers upped the season average to 15.3, which would put them in a tie with Stetson, UC Davis and Grambling.

Turnovers have been the story of the season so far for May’s squad, but the Michigan head coach is confident things will turn around.

“We’ve got to get more consistent with our approach. This team is still learning to win together as a group, and (I’m) very confident we’re going to take the lessons we learned tonight and apply them going forward.”

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Michigan and Arkansas tip at 9:00 p.m. (or at some point following the Miami/Tennessee game) tonight at Madison Square Garden.

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