Arkansas forward Adou Thiero’s 24-point performance Saturday night was not enough to overcome the No. 8 Baylor Bears, as the 16th-ranked Razorbacks suffered a 72-67 loss at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
A transfer from Kentucky who came over with head coach John Calipari, Thiero was praised all offseason for his athleticism at his 6-foot-8, 220-pound frame. He put that on display all evening against Baylor, adding five rebounds, two blocks, two assists and one steal to go with his points.
“He’s in attack mode now,” Calipari said postgame of Thiero. “Instead of messing with the ball, he’s in attack mode. Now he can get to where he needs to go. Probably got to get him to do a little stride-stop so if he gets stuck, he can turn and make plays for his teammates. That may be one of the things he can do for us. But he also defended a very physical guy, so he was doing a little bit of everything.”
Thiero was a big reason why Arkansas managed to stay as close as it did with the Bears. He was 10-for-15 shooting from the field, plus he added a pair of triples on four attempts and he was 2-for-4 at the free throw line.
“Man, I tell you, I love that kid,” Baylor head coach Scott Drew said of Thiero. “Coaches love guys that play with a motor and play hard. And we recruited his dad. We lost him, too. So really, really, really, really talented player, and somebody that I’ll cheer for because I love how he plays.”
The Razorbacks struggled early and often against Baylor’s zone defense, but it felt like Thiero was one of the few to find a way to get the ball in the basket consistently. Thiero, Boogie Fland and D.J. Wagner were the only Arkansas players with more than two made field goals in the game.
“We’re not in sync yet, where we’ll be, but in the second half, we did some good stuff,” Calipari said. “We gave ourselves a chance. We pressed a little bit, showing, okay, maybe this is something we can do. That’s what you’re trying to do in these games. This is November. They’re a top 10 team and we come down and give ourselves a chance. The kids did give us a chance to win.”
Thiero’s protection at the rim was strong at times, but he was also overpowered on a few occasions, specifically by Baylor forward Norchad Omier.
“Norchad was tremendous tonight and I thought we did a better job getting him the ball and it was a pace where he could be effective,” Drew said postgame.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Thiero is now averaging 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, albeit it’s a two-game sample size. He averaged 7.2 points and 5.0 rebounds in 25 total games played at Kentucky last season.
“He’s been doing good,” guard Boogie Fland said. “Just playing within the team. Not doing too much. Just getting to his spots where he knows he can hit shots. He’s just being a big factor for this team.”
Arkansas will host the Troy Trojans on Wednesday at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. CT and it will be streamed on SEC Network+.
