John Calipari calls out Boogie Fland over three-point shooting vs. Lipscomb

The Arkansas Razorbacks started the John Calipari with a win over Lipscomb. It was a game where Boogie Fland immediately made his presence felt, leading Arkansas in scoring and assists.

Despite that, Calipari still sees plenty of room for Fland to grow. In particular, he believes Fland needs to take better shots and called him out following the game for his decision to keep shooting three-point shots.

“Why would you shoot a three? Boogie, you barely made one and it went clink, clink, clink,” John Calipari said. “That was the one you made and you kept shooting. Shoot twos. I’m not going to tell you not to shoot, just don’t shoot threes. ‘Well, I’m trying to get my.’ No, no. We’re trying to win. You get in that gym over there and shoot threes.”

Boogie Fland finished the game with 17 points, three assists, and three rebounds. He was seven for 18 shooting from the field. However, he was also just one of eight shooting from three-point range. He also made both free throws he shot. Fland was able to do all of that in just under 36 minutes of playing time and while only turning the ball over once.

As a team, Arkansas shot just four for 19 from three-point range, or 21.1 percent. The Razorbacks also shot 54 percent from the field as a whole.

A four-star recruit in the Class of 2024, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, Boogie Fland came to Arkansas as the 18th-ranked player nationally and the first-ranked point guard. He played his high school basketball at Archbishop Stepinac in New York. There, he was a McDonald’s All-American in 2024.

For Calipari and Fland, this was their first game together at Arkansas. After 15 seasons at Kentucky, Calipari left for Arkansas during the offseason and is looking to build the Razorbacks into a major force in college basketball. Fland is expected to be a big piece of that puzzle early in his tenure with the Razorbacks.

Following the game, John Calipari received the game ball for both his first win at Arkansas and his first home win with the program. Athletic director Hunter Yurachek delivered the game ball to him.

“You’ve won 850-some games,” Yurachek said. “But this is your first at Bud Walton Arena that somebody’s gonna give you a game ball for.”

After receiving the game ball, Calipari had the team sign their names on the ball to help commemorate the occasion.

Next for John Calipari, Boogie Fland, and the rest of the Razorbacks is going to be a challenging matchup on Saturday against the Baylor Bears. That game is set to be played in Dallas.