John Calipari Suffers Near-Record Loss with Arkansas
The Arkansas Razorbacks were ranked in the top 25, but the new poll is likely to see John Calipari's team drop out entirely. That's because they were shellacked, which is putting it lightly, by the number seven team, the Florida Gators. Their 34-point defeat is tied for the worst Calipari has ever suffered, and he needed a late DJ Wagner three to avoid the record.
John Calipari suffers ugly defeat
John Calipari has long been considered one of the preeminent college coaches of the modern era. He's been highly successful. His programs have sent countless players to the NBA. Some of the best players, like Anthony Davis, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Devin Booker, Bam Adebayo, De'Aaron Fox, and Tyrese Maxey, played for him.
That said, he's not immune to bad losses. And while the Razorbacks were a good team this year, they weren't that good. They couldn't avoid an utter dismantling by the rival Florida Gators. In a matchup of top-20 teams, Florida won by 34.
Calipari joked that he had to have had some worse blowouts in his first year at UMass, but he hadn't. He had some 30-point losses, but this loss was his worst. It, and a 2018 loss to Duke with the Kentucky Wildcats.
"Look, I've done this so long, stuff happens," said Calipari, who has been coaching for over 35 years. "I told them, 'We had a great February. We got two games left. Let's get out of here and go.' I said it wasn't my team. This is not the team I've been coaching."
The Razorbacks need to do some 'soul-searching'
John Calipari is not trying to put too much stock into an ugly loss, but with that in mind, the players have to be better. "But I did tell some guys, 'You got to do some soul searching and be honest with yourself. Why did you play the way you played?' Not a whole lot else you can do," he revealed.
The most notable event in an otherwise forgettable game was both coaches, Calipari and Todd Golden, getting double technicals for screaming at one another in the second quarter. Neither remembered what set it off. "Who knows? We're both competitors," Calipari said. "He's done a great job. I can tell you: He outcoached me today."
"It was going to come back to our will versus their will," said Calipari. And if you stop playing, they keep moving their feet and put you in bad positions. And they did that to us a bunch. We had some opportunities to rebound. They just beat us to a ball. ... They outrebound us by 20. Come on. You're not going to win that game. You're not."
Calipari also said he wished the game had ended sooner. Sometimes, you're just going to get beaten, and if that's the case, the coach just wants it to be over as quickly as possible. Prior to this drubbing, he was unbeaten in his last six road games against the Gators.
As for the surging Gators who are making a case for a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament, Calipari said, "They're not afraid to throw you around. That's how they play. If you're avoiding their contact, you can't play in this game. And we had a bunch of guys try to go sideways and then come back and back and back. You can't play that way," he said.
It's unclear if he's giving a backhanded compliment about Florida's style of play or criticizing his own team for not being up to the task. It could be both. The Razorbacks and Gators could meet again in the SEC Tournament for a rematch.
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