Arkansas has defeated No. 12 Kentucky 89-79 in Lexington on Saturday night in the much awaited John Calipari's return to where he coached for 15 years.
The Razorbacks looked like a different team much of the game on Saturday. The Razorbacks lst trailed 45-43 with 55 seconds left in the first half. The Hogs entered the intermission leading 46-45.
"Well, it’s hard to win here and I’ve got to be honest with you and Adou (Thiero), he said the same thing," Calipari said. "I looked up a couple of times and I thought we were losing because I kept looking at Kentucky instead of Arkansas. And I told them I did that and Adou said, ‘Coach, I did the same thing.’ It was 15 years here, you know.
"Great thing for me I was able to get around and see all my dear friends. Today I saw … One I knew … Coming back and playing this well, we played well. We did. It’s not, you know … Wwe made a lot of shots. But we’ve lost a lot of games because we were like 0-for. It’s like, ‘Guys, you’ve got to make some.’ So it’s nice to know they can play this way. We had a great week of practice and I told them, ‘’You’re primed for this now. Let’s go.’ So yes."
Arkansas shot 52% (13-25) from behind the arc. Arkansas shot 55% (32-58) from the field to 48 for the Wildcats. The three former Kentucky players now at Arkansas all played well. Thiero topped the Hogs with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals. D.J. Wagner added 17 points, 3 rebounds and 8 assists. Zvonimir Ivisic was next with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and a steal.
"I called them in together and I said ‘Are you guys OK going back here? Are you going to be OK? And they all said, ‘We’re fine coach. We’re worried about you,'" Calipari said. "That’s the kind of team I have and the kind of players they are. They were worried about me and I said ‘I’m fine.’ So no, they were good today and they played well today. They all three played well. D.J. played and so did Z and so did Adou. Adou played as though, that’s how we want him to play every game. Hard to play that way every game. But we put it in his hands in spots where he could drive the ball and we also ran. A bunch of points in transition. Nelly (Johnell Davis) was playing like we’ve all expected him to play.
"Kentucky is a really good team. We’re fortunate. We had to shoot 70%, 55 and 52 to win the game. If we don’t do that we lose the game. They’re very, very good. They went to Tennessee with this same team and won. And then Tennessee comes back and beats Florida by 20. This league is crazy."
Davis, the FAU transfer, has played much better since Boogie Fland went out with an injury. Davis had 18 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Calipari was asked if this win was his super bowl?
"Maybe. Maybe, but you won’t believe this, Adou says it seems like we’re still everybody’s Super Bowl when we play," Calipari said. "We have teams making shots, bank shots, doing stuff, we’re like, what in the world just happened? So, yeah, I would say, this was… Look, it’s not like we pointed to this game. We didn’t. We just are trying to win. Now we’re going on to the next game. We got Sunday off, yeah, but we’re getting home at 1:30 or 2. We practice Monday, Tuesday and travel, then go to Texas. That’s easy. I mean, this doesn’t end. I’ve said it before. I didn’t look at any of the games today. I don’t know what happened other than the Tennessee game, and I only know that because the TV people told me at our shootaround. But, you’re going to lose three out of four. Four out of five. Two or three in-a-row. You’re going to because of this league, and all you want to rack up is Quad 1 wins. Just keep racking up Quad 1 wins. That’s the most important thing."
Kentucky (15-6, 4-4) was topped by Amari Williams with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists. Former Razorback Jaxson Robinson was next with 21 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
Arkansas (13-8, 2-6) will be at Texas Wednesday night at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.