John Calipari after Arkansas gave up 109 points to Arizona: ‘That was a hard one’
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John Calipari has been through a lot of highs in the NCAA Tournament, including his national championship victory at Kentucky in 2012.
That was surely the pinnacle of his coaching career. But Thursday night was just the opposite for the Arkansas head coach, and although he said all the right things about how proud he was of his team in the postgame press conference, the Razorbacks got jumped by Arizona in the Sweet 16 showdown and never got traction.
The final score was 109-88, and it was the third time this season that Coach Cal’s team allowed 100 or more points. This time, it came at the ultimate cost, as Arkansas’ dynamic season led by freshman sensation Darius Acuff Jr. ended with a thud late Thursday night in San Jose. Calipari’s No. 4 seed didn’t get out of the West Region, and he had a message to reporters immediately after taking the microphone.
“Arizona is really good, and if they shoot the ball that way and do the things they did today, wow,” said Calipari, whose team allowed Arizona to shoot a stunning 64% from the field and 63% from 3-point territory in the beatdown loss.
Calipari also wanted to stress though that he was mighty proud of a season that ended with a 28-9 record and included an SEC Tournament title a few short weeks ago.
“I told my team I’m proud of them,” he said. “What they did this year … I don’t want them to look at one game and have it take away from what they’ve all accomplished.”
Then he got real.
“That was a hard one. They got us right at the beginning. They’re good. Really good team,” Calipari said.
Calipari’s dreams of another Final Four are gone, but there are still 12 teams alive in the NCAA Tournament going into Friday night, and here is what the Kalshi market currently sees as the top teams in the mix to get to Indianapolis:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
