John Calipari's honest admission after Arkansas' close win vs. Michigan
12/11/2024 12:47 AM
The first season in Fayetteville for John Calipari has been a rocky one so far, but the new Arkansas basketball coach picked up a massive win on Tuesday night. The Razorbacks knocked off No. 14 Michigan in an 89-87 thriller in New York City at the Jimmy V Classic.
This game was a wild one as the two teams went back and forth all night. Michigan jumped out to a 15-point lead early in the game before Arkansas fought back to trail by just four points at halftime. Then, Arkansas raced to an 18-point second half lead before Michigan pulled within one point in the final minutes.
The Wolverines had chances to tie or win the game late thanks to plenty of missed free throws and other mistakes made by Arkansas on the offensive end. However, a massive blocked shot by Trevon Brazile and some curious execution and timeout management by Dusty May and Michigan allowed Calipari and company to escape with a victory.
After the game, Calipari pointed the finger at himself for some of the team’s shortcomings down the stretch, according to Evan Kamikow of Pig Trail Nation.
“I made some mistakes down the stretch… here's what I like, we get down and we never have stopped,” Calipari said on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt, per Kamikow.
This win will be very welcome for Arkansas basketball fans and for Calipari and his team. The Razorbacks came into this game with a 7-2 record, but all of their wins were outside of the Power Four outside of a win over a bad Miami (FL) team. On the contrary, Arkansas lost a couple of competitive battles with Baylor and Illinois. This win on Tuesday proves that this Arkansas team can compete with the top teams in the nation even in year one with Calipari calling the shots.
Arkansas was led by talented freshman Boogie Fland in this one, who finished with 20 points. D.J. Wagner, a top recruit who transferred to Arkansas from Kentucky after his freshman season in 2023-24, added 16 to help out in the win.
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