John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks couldn't have asked for a better situation to escape the precarious predicament they find themselves going into the final stretch of the 2025 Southeastern Conference basketball gauntlet. Having fought back all night in a hard defensive struggle at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala.,
Arkansas took a one-point lead with 3:06 to play against the No. 1 ranked Auburn Tigers (24-2, 12-1 SEC). The Razorbacks (15-11, 4-9 SEC) then froze and fumbled away another opportunity to secure a win which could have went a long way toward securing their dreams of postseason play. The Auburn loss was Arkansas' third close loss to a top-10 opponent in their last four games, and is the stuff that is keeping Calipari sleepless as his team travels back to Fayetteville.
Everything John Calipari and the players said after loss to Auburn
"Yeah. After the A&M game, (the media) said you guys have to go out and beat somebody," Calipari said to the media in the postgame press conference. "I'm Just coaching — kind of being on the projected bubble and just how it's not any pressure? Yeah. I can't sleep at night. I've got the shakes."
After starting February off with an encouraging win at his former haunts in Kentucky, Calipari's Razorbacks resurrected hopes of an NCAA tournament bid — winning three of four games. The only loss was at home to No. 2 ranked Alabama, but after avenging a road loss to LSU, the Razorbacks have now let back-to back-road games to No. 8 Texas A&M and top-ranked Auburn slip through their grasp.
Missing opportunities
"That's the No. 1 team in the country," said Calipari. "We kind of quieted the crowd a little bit, but that's why they're the number one team, and that's why we have the record we have. Because we had that against Alabama. We had it against A&M. I can go on and on and on, and we don't finish people off."
Despite Auburn's Punk Attitude, This Is Still Best Time Ever to Be Hogs' Head Coach : https://t.co/ppBN0OiHYS
— Best Of Arkansas Sports (@BestOfARSports) February 20, 2025
Adou Thiero led the Razorbacks with 16 points and Johnell Davis chipped in with 14 points, four assists and three steals in the losing effort. DJ Wagner and Karter Knox also scored in double figures with 11 points each, but in a game where both teams shot under 20 percent from three-point range, Auburn's edge in rebounding and in foul shooting made the difference.
"Stuff wasn't falling, but they were still fighting on the inside," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said afterwards. "Johni Broom had another game winning play late with an offensive rebound. And you know, he had run something in. I think it was something to get Cheney (Johnson) the ball in tight. Cheney missed it, and Johni cleaned it up. And he's done that."
Arkansas freshman Billy Wagner actually seemed in position to grab the crucial rebound, but teammate Trevon Brazile ran into Wagner — jarring the ball free. It fell into Broom's waiting arms and the senior All-American center laid it in for a crucial offensive stick back.
Broom led the Tigers with 16 points and 13 rebounds in the game. Chaney Johnson came off the bench to contribute 14 points and six boards while Chad Baker-Mazara did likewise 15 points and three rebounds.
Overall the Tigers won the battle of the boards 39 to 27. At the free throw line, Auburn made 13 of their 17 (76 percent) attempts while Arkansas made only seven of their 14 opportunities from the charity stripe.
Ice cold from beyond the arc
Calipari lamented his team's inability to make shots in general on a night where their defense gave them another opportunity to pick up a much-needed victory.
"We defended, created turnovers, got our turnovers down, and made some shots. But again, three for 19 from the three? How do you win? How do you beat the number one team when you shoot three for 19 from the three? We had a chance to win.
"Did you hear what I just said? Three for 19. What if we went eight for 19? And I'm gonna ask you, how many of those were wide open? A bunch of them. You just gotta make some shots."
Noticeably absent in the shot-making department for Arkansas was sophomore transfer big man Zvonimir Ivisic who came into the game as one of the hottest shooters in the country. Against Auburn however, the 7-2 stretch-five center from Croatia led Arkansas defensively with eight rebounds and three blocked shots, but went 0-9 from behind the three-point arc and scoreless in the game.
"We gave that matchup to Dylan (Carter) and Chaney. I thought they did a pretty good job," Pearl said. "And you know, in Johni's match up with Z, he didn't get a bucket. So that was a great effort by Johni.
"In fact, Johni talked about it Saturday night at Tuscaloosa. He talked about we got Arkansas coming in on Wednesday. Look. Players know players. And so we all recognize that roster and recognize whoever was the best big. If (Arkansas' Jonas Aidoo) was the best big in the portal, he went to Arkansas. If Wagner was the best guard in the portal, he followed Cal to Arkansas from Kentucky.
"Arkansas did a great job with that with that with that roster. And then, it's just an unforgiving league. It just is. So I think our guys really respected Arkansas, and Arkansas played very well. They played very physically, made it really hard hard for us to score."
The Razorbacks' future is in their hands
Arkansas' road ahead may not get any tougher, but it certainly won't be easy with a surging Missouri Tigers team up next at Bud Walton Arena. Missouri comes off a win on Wednesday over Alabama while putting up 110 points against the Crimson Tide.
"We have a chance. It is all in our hands," Calipari said. "If you're in a league with no level-one wins, you got nothing left. Whatever your record is, it is. You have no easy wins in this league and what makes it hard is they're all quad one wins or losses. But that also gives you the chance we had today.
"We've got to finish it off now. And if you don't finish it off or don't take advantage, that's on us. It's in our hands. It's not going to be in a committee's hands. It's in our hands. You either do it or you don't. I told (the team) after last game. I didn't want shaky hands."
Arkansas' future is shaky going forward with the only way to a .500 record in conference play being to win out. After Missouri on Saturday, the Razorbacks have a rematch with Texas at home then two road games at South Carolina and Vanderbilt before closing out the regular season by hosting No. 21 Mississippi State.
"Every game we play is an NCAA tournament game now," Calipari said. "I didn't want to say that before Texas A&M because I thought they'd miss every shot. But I said it for this game, and I'm saying it's our NCAA. That is a final four game because that's what they are. That's a final four game."