John Calipari shares Reed Sheppard message to him about Zvonimir Ivisic

Zvonimir Ivisic exploded onto the scene when he made his debut in January for the Kentucky Wildcats, looking like one of the best players on the floor. He poured in 15 points and flashed his tremendous potential.

It hasn’t taken him long to win over fans and he’s won over his teammates, too.

Following Kentucky’s win over Arkansas on Saturday, Wildcats head coach John Calipari shared the message that freshman Reed Sheppard shared with him about Big Z.

John Calipari on Reed Sheppard’s message on Big Z

“Z…you guys have to understand now. Z hadn’t played basketball for six months. It took him two months to get admitted. It took them another two months for them to say he should be playing. He should have been playing from the beginning of the year. Now all of a sudden he hadn’t played in six months,” Calipari said in his postgame press conference.

It’s hard for people to remember that Ivisic hadn’t played in six months, especially after his spectacular debut. Calipari had to have been pleased with his great game on Saturday against Arkansas. The Croatian stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, nine rebounds, and one block. He did all of that in just 20 minutes of work.

“You know who reminded me of that? Reed [Sheppard]. ‘Coach now. Z is really good. You have to understand he hadn’t played for six months. Reed reminded me. And I said, I know that. What do you think I’m not watching? But you know the stuff that he’s doing….” Calipari continued.

Reed Sheppard had another solid game for the Wildcats, scoring 10 points while dishing out five assists. Kentucky finished with an impressive seven players in double figures, showcasing yet again that they are one of the highest-scoring teams in all of college basketball when things are clicking. Antonio Reeves scored 22 points, D.J. Wagner chipped in 19 points, and Rob Dillingham chipped in 15 points.

Once the dust had cleared, Kentucky lit Arkansas up for 111 points. They drained 9 of their 20 three-pointers (45%). They also shot an impressive 42 shots from the free throw line, connecting on 34 of those. And they were once again hot from the field, connecting on 34 of their 60 shots (56.7%).

It’s certainly going to be fascinating to see how the Wildcats finish in the upcoming NCAA Tournament because few teams in the country can score quite like they can. They’re currently putting up 88.8 points per game, ranking them third in the nation.

Up next for Kentucky, they’ll face the Vanderbilt Commodores on March 6th. Then they’ll face the Tennessee Volunteers on Mar. 9 to close the regular season before gearing up for SEC Tournament play.