Calipari talks missed shots, opportunities in 'hard-fought' loss to Sooners

The stage was set against the visiting Oklahoma Sooners for John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks to reinforce their new-found identity as scrappy find-a-way-to-win underdogs playing without their freshman floor leader Boogie Fland and hungry for another SEC win.

Trailing 63-62 with the ball in the final seconds, Arkansas senior transfer guard Johnell Davis got the inbounded pass and drove to the basket but couldn't draw a foul. Oklahoma (15-4, 2-4 SEC) grabbed his errant shot attempt and went on to secure a hard-fought 65-62 victory and escaped Bud Walton Arena with their second-straight win in SEC play while denying it to the Razorbacks (12-8, 1-6 SEC).

Everything John Calipari said: Arkansas vs Oklahoma

High effort, missed opportunities

"I thought both teams fought so hard. At the end, I thought we had one or two more plays but I thought Arkansas played so hard and physical," Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said to the media after the game. "For us to come out on top, I thought we had to grind it out because we’ve come out on a couple on the other end and so have they. Effort was not an issue with both teams. That was a hard, hard fought game."

Calipari agreed and pointed to missed opportunities to pull the game out by his team — one of the youngest in the SEC even without Fland, who recently underwent surgery on his thumb and is expected to miss the rest of the season.

Sophomore transfer guard D.J. Wagner has assumed Fland's primary ball handling duties. He had 10 points along with four rebounds and a team-leading five assists in the game. Senior transfer guard Johnell Davis had a season-high 18 points and four steals for Arkansas but couldn't find the basket on the final shot attempt.

"But there's a hard fought game," Calipari told the media. " (We) had our chances again. Just on that that last play out of the timeout, is that the look you guys were looking for? (There were) things back door, and either you have it or there's going to be a man in the corner."

Overall the Razorbacks continued to struggle shooting from the field in SEC play. On Saturday, they nearly shot as well from the three-point line (33 percent) as they did from the field (37 percent). Davis, who was one of the top-rated players coming out of the transfer portal, and Wagner, who was among the top players coming out of high school in 2023, shot a combined 4-for-14 from behind the three-point line and 10-of-28 from the field overall.

"I'm with him. And, he's getting better," Calipari said of Davis who led Florida Atlantic to upstart Final Four and Elite Eight runs in the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons. "There's still some breakdown stuff, but he's getting better. He’s got to quit thinking so much. He did some good things.

Shooting their shots

We made nine threes. If you told me we're making nine threes and losing, I'm like, you're nuts. But we missed a lot of layups too. And again, free throws. We were going there and getting in (the lane), and we're trying to get fouled like everybody else."

Despite the home-court advantage, the visiting team had four more opportunities from the charity stripe — thanks in part to Arkansas giving Oklahoma six straight opportunities from the foul line. Arkansas committed back-to-back fouls on Sooner three-point attempts at a key juncture in the second half, giving Oklahoma the 20-16 advantage on foul shot attempts. Both teams connected on 80 percent of their free throw opportunities.

"Luke (Northweather) was going in and out and he got fouled on that three in the corner," Moser said. "For him to step up and make those free throws — you know those aren’t easy when you are in and out. He made a big shot. He made those three big free throws."

Losing the battle on the boards

Despite getting outrebounded as they have for most of SEC play (the team's lone conference win against Georgia being a notable exception), Calipari pointed to his team's continued inability to finish drives to the basket as the main area of improvement going forward.

"We're doing stuff. "(We've) got to make some more baskets," he said. "I thought we took a few too many threes. But, again, they were all open again. We're missing wide open threes too. And that's just part of it. That happens sometimes. So now you say, was that a good shot? And I'd say you'd have to shoot it. We played well enough to win. We fought like crazy. We never gave up on the game."

Unlike earlier in the week when Arkansas outrebounded one of the best rebounding teams in the country in Georgia to earn a hard-fought win at home, Oklahoma out rebounded Arkansas 32 to 25 on Saturday.

"We knew they were going to be physical and drive it," Moser said. "We were just all about getting that rebound. It was about making them (take) a tough shot and then getting the rebound. That’s how they won the Georgia game. They took it and then (Arkansas' Adou) Thiero came in and got the rebound.

"We talked about that in the end. We’ve got to get our hands on the rebound. That was our focus and being really physical and being disciplined, but we just knew we had to come up with the that rebound on that last loose ball."

The emergence of Generation Z?

Thiero, who leads Arkansas in rebounding on the season, had another solid effort with 10 points and five boards in the game. He was surpassed in that area on Saturday by sophomore transfer Zivonimir Ivisic who had 10 points and six rebounds. The 7-foot-2 center, who leads Arkansas in three-point percentage shooting and blocked shots, also gave Arkansas some much-needed post presence offensively.

Ivisic played the entire second half in place of starting center Jonas Aidoo, who continues to struggle after transferring from Tennessee as an All-SEC center.

"I just thought we needed rim protection because they were running downhill," Calipari said. "Then we collapsed, and they were throwing back for threes. So I said, I'll put the shot blocker in there, and Z had three blocked shots and 6 rebounds. He did all right."

Cal's return to his old Kentucky home

Saturday's loss leaves Calipari's Razorbacks still in search of an identity going into next weekend's trip to his former stomping grounds in Lexington, Kentucky where he solidified his hall of fame credentials by winning a national championship and three final four appearances.

"So we just gotta keep going, keep fighting, keep figuring this out," Calipari said. "What does this team look like? What do we have to play like?

"I'm still on this game, but, yeah, there'd be some emotion walking into that building and really being in town. (I'll) probably get together with some of my friends. (Kentucky) is playing good. We got our hands full. Let's see what happens. They're a good team. Mark (Pope) is doing a good job with them."