'This is a second weekend type team,' Chris Beard compliments Arkansas after win

Before John Calipari's much-celebrated arrival as head coach of the University of Arkansas basketball program during the run up to last year's NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship, the job was Chris Beard's to lose. Why Beard ultimately chose to turn down the Arkansas job to stay in Oxford, Mississippi is not clear. But what remained clear going into Thursday's second-round matchup of the 2025 Southeastern Conference Tournament between No. 8-seeded Ole Miss and No. 9-seeded Arkansas was Beard's disdain for losing and his desire to win.

""We actually came here to win this tournament. I know a lot of people don't understand that. So we set this up. We always say the first game in any tournament is the most important.""

Chris Beard

Everything John Calipari and Chris Bear said

"We actually came here to win this tournament," said Beard whose team pulled out a 83-80 win on a three-point buzzer beater by Sean Pedulla to advance and take on No. 1 seeded Auburn on Friday. "I know a lot of people don't understand that. So we set this up. We always say the first game in any tournament is the most important. So it's a singular focus — laser focus. Only thing we talked about, was our first game."

That was the case for Calipari and Arkansas on Wednesday as well as when the Razorbacks (20-13) needed some last second heroics of their own to hold off South Carolina in their tournament opener. The 72-68 win not only avenged Arkansas' only loss in their last six games coming into postseason tournament play. It most likely secured Arkansas an invitation to the upcoming "Big Dance" also known as the NCAA Tournament.

However, it also sparked controversy which raged across the college basketball landscape over the importance of conference tournaments when Calipari suggested he could "care less about winning the conference tournament."

"If we play the way we're capable of, we'll have fun [in the Big Dance]," Calipari told the press after the game on Wednesday. "You think about what this team as a group has been through with injuries. Individual players, guys struggling, really struggling.

"Guys continuing to play and do it together, and then all of a sudden, two of your best players go down. And you're still like, I thought we were winning that [Ole Miss] game. I'm still a little stunned that we didn't. So I think [the players] are disappointed. They want to win this game, but we will see."

On to March Madness

After another valiant effort on Thursday, Calipari's Razorbacks now await official word of their fate from the NCAA Selection Committee on Sunday. Beard said after getting a second victorious look for his Rebels at the Razorbacks on Thursday, he feels it should make the committee's decision on Arkansas a no brainer.

"[Arkansas] had a lot of adversity early with injuries and things they couldn't control," Beard said. "But now when the dust settles, again, in my opinion, this is a second weekend type team [in the NCAA Tournament]. The seven guys in their rotation right now are really, really good players.

"So we value this as a huge win, almost like a second weekend type win for us. And, I think with Cal — I think when he got to 0-and-five or something, and how I just kept explaining to our guys in the locker room as we watched the SEC...I would argue they're playing the best basketball we might see in the country right now. "

Foul Trouble

In Thursday's SEC Tournament war of attrition, Arkansas fell down by a 15-point first-half deficit and appeared to be mailing it in, but managed to cut the lead to single digits going into halftime. However Calipari's Razorbacks found some of the resilience which resurrected their postseason hopes during the break and used a 13-2 second-half run toward taking an eight-point lead of their own with just under 10 minutes to play in the game.

Ole Miss battled back to take a seven-point lead down the stretch only to see Arkansas take an 80-77 lead on a floater in the lane from sophomore point guard D.J. Wagner with 29 seconds left. A series of questionable fouls — including multiple calls which forced Calipari's already depleted roster to play the final four minutes without senior center Jonas Aidoo — helped Ole Miss stay within striking distance.

"Honestly, when I'm on court, I don't think I'm fouling," said Aidoo who was a first-team All-SEC player last season at Tennessee. "And I've been doing the same thing for the past four years. I've been in this league, but it's just hard. It's just hard, to be honest."

With the game tied at 80 in the final seconds, Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile missed a pair of free throws which Pedulla ended up with. He took the ball the length of the court and sank the game winner from the top of the key over Brazile's outstretched arm for the win.

Aidoo led five Razorbacks in double figures with 17 points off the bench. He also logged eight rebounds. Brazile had his thrid double double in the last four games with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman duo Billy Richmond and Karter Knox contributed 15 and 14 respectively, and senior guard Johnell Davis had 10 points to go with four steals in the game.

Wagner nearly missed the party with nine points, four assists and four rebounds.

Calipari defends his players

Afterwards Calilpari refused to throw any of his players under the bus, and wished Beard and the Rebels good fortune in the wars to come.

"I told him in front of the team, look at me. That did not cost us the game," Calipari said of Brazile, who committed a pair of untimely fouls in crunch time. "The reason we were in the game is because of you. That's why we were in the game. You have gotten so much better.

"I mean, you can look at different things when you're in a close game like that. This turnover, that missed rebound, that foul near the basket to give them ones. There was all kind of stuff. But here's what I'd say again. Our kids never stopped. They haven't stopped all year."

Beard agreed, and wished Arkansas well in the NCAA Tournament.

"A lot of respect for the opponent," he said. "Hall of fame coach, seven man rotation right now, in my opinion, told the guys this last night. I think all seven are either draft picks or guys that have a chance to be NBA players in the future.

"So, we consider this a great win, maybe one of the best of the season. Arkansas had won five the last six or six of the last seven. So to me, it was a kind of a second weekend type game. That's a talented team."

Not to be out done, the former University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Texas Longhorn coach took umbrage at anyone suggesting he or his team intend to play second fiddle to anyone.

"This isn't my first rodeo. You know?" Beard said in response to a reporter who suggested Ole Miss should see themselves as less than their opponents in the SEC. "I might look young because I got a haircut last night. I've got this trendy beer that my daughters like.

And so, you know, but I I've been doing this for a minute. So but to answer your question, anytime you have a chance to coach against the Hall of Fame coach, absolutely. We all understand that. To say anything different, would not be truthful. So in this league, it's almost every single night. So, coach Cal and then tomorrow, Bruce Pearl. So, yeah. We'll see where we stack up, but this is not our first rodeo."

Maybe not. But it may be the last ride that matters the most.