John Calipari distracts Arkansas player, kicks scorer’s table as turnover leads to slam

John Calipari and Arkansas have struggled in a big way in SEC action this season — just 4-7 in conference play and a 15-9 overall record — and one sequence in their game against Texas A&M on Saturday encapsulated those struggles.

With 5 and a half minutes played in the second half, the Razorbacks held possession trailing 44-39. As Calipari was giving instructions to Adou Thiero, DJ Wagner threw a pass his way when he wasn’t looking. That led to a fast-break opportunity for Texas A&M, capped by an alley-oop dunk that led Calipari to kick the scorer’s table in frustration before calling timeout.

Here’s video from the broadcast:

The NCAA Tournament looks well out of the reach of the Razorbacks this year. Calipari was brought in after Eric Musselman departed for USC, as Arkansas hoped to put itself among the elite teams in the SEC and to tap into Calipari’s body of work at Kentucky despite discontent from the Wildcats fanbase during his latter years in Lexington.

Instead, they’re on the verge of missing the tournament in back-to-back seasons. They picked up a win over LSU on Wednesday, but after Saturday, things don’t get easier: next up is Auburn on Wednesday.

Sydney Hunte

Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.