How did Big Z do in game two? Zvonimir Ivisic cools off in first game away from home.
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Game day: South Carolina 79, No. 6 Kentucky 62
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.
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It would have been difficult for Zvonimir Ivisic to top his sensational debut in game two of his college basketball career Tuesday night.
In his first game away from home, the Kentucky freshman cooled off considerably.
Ivisic finished with three points, two rebounds and two blocks in the Wildcats’ 79-62 loss at South Carolina.
The 7-foot-2 big man from Croatia entered the game for the first time with 15:58 left in the first half, coming in after the first TV timeout of the night. He picked up a couple of blocks in his first shift on the court, but his first shot of the game — a 3-point attempt — rolled out of the basket.
His first field goal came on a dunk with 8:59 left and Kentucky trailing by 15. Ivisic committed his third personal foul on South Carolina’s next possession, leading to an and-one play that gave the Gamecocks a 60-44 lead.
Ivisic tallied 13 points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and two steals in his Kentucky debut Saturday, logging 16 minutes in the Cats’ 105-96 victory over Georgia in front of an adoring Rupp Arena crowd that had been waiting for months to see him for the first time.
In that game, Ivisic whipped the fans into a frenzy with a behind-the-back pass to Antonio Reeves for a 3-pointer in the early going, then nailed four consecutive long-range jump shots — three of them 3-pointers — in his second shift on the court against the Bulldogs.
Kentucky outscored Georgia 24-2 in Ivisic’s first five and a half minutes on the floor.
On Tuesday night, he was a minus-10 in the box score at halftime.
This story was originally published January 23, 2024 at 9:02 PM.
