'I just want Arkansas to be that team,' John Calipari talks Razorbacks' win at Vanderbilt

For much of 2025, it has been hard for Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari to recognize his team from week to week throughout Southeastern Conference (SEC) play. Injuries and inconsistency have made it so, but Calipari got a version of his team he prefers to see on a late Tuesday night tilt as Arkansas (18-12, 7-10 SEC) went into Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym in Nashville and walked away with a 90-77 win to revive their flagging postseason tournament hopes.

Everything John Calipari and the players said after beating Vanderbilt

"Just so you know. we got smoked by South Carolina so bad, I never looked at the tape," Calipari told the media after the Vanderbilt game. "And I told the team, the reason I didn't look at the tape. That wasn't my team (at South Carolina). So why would I watch it? That's not my team."

In the first game of a crucial final two-game road swing before returning home on Saturday to close out the 2025 SEC regular season, Arkansas struggled to make a basket for much of the first half at South Carolina. Those Razorbacks — playing without the team's top two leading scorers in freshman guard Boogie Fland and sophomore transfer Adou Theiro — missed all seventeen of their first three-point attempts and finished shooting 23 percent from the field overall while scoring only 14 points in the first half.

"We even missed free throws, missed layups, missed one footers, missed everything. (We) shot 15 percent," And I just said, "Look. It was a dud. Next game," Calipari said.

On Tuesday against the Commodores however, Calipari found away to repair that timeline as his team overcame a somewhat slow start and reverted to form by shooting 50 percent from the field, 33 percent from three-point range and 72 percent from the free throw line. Taking advantage of their superior height advantages inside, Arkansas held a Vanderbilt team that had beaten three-ranked opponents in a row — and played well all season at home — to 38 percent shooting from the floor, blocked eight shots and won the rebound margin 40-27.

Best versions of themselves

Senior transfer guard Johnell Davis led all five Razorback starters in double figures scoring with 21 points in the game. He was joined in leading the effort by Travon Brazile's breakthrough 16-point, 14-rebound, two-block showing. Meanwhile DJ Wagner and Zvonimir Ivisic scored 14 each and freshman Karter Knox chimed in with 10 points and five rebounds.

"I'm happy for Trevon," Calipari said. "It's been an up and down road, but I keep telling him, you got stuff that a normal guy doesn't have. Now bring it. And I told him, I'm gonna hold you accountable. Even though you play well, I'm gonna still get on you to listen, to focus and lock in, to go after every ball."

Billy Richmond (eight points) and Jonas Aidoo (seven points and eight rebounds) came off the bench to complete the picture of what Calipari has been asking for all season — a team where all players in the playing rotation put their best feet forward.

"(Brazile) and Nelly, Whew!," Calipari said. "And at halftime and then in the second half, I said, 'Will someone else step up?' We needed one or two more, and then DJ made some great plays.

"Billy turns it over and does some stuff, but he makes plays. So you've got to let him turn it over some. Karter was starting the game loose. The kid stole the ball from him. He shoots an air ball instead of driving it and recovers. But he wasn't staying in front of anybody. Billy was. Nelly was. DJ was."

Credit to the Commodores

The Commodores (20-10, 8-9 SEC) were led by Tyler Nickel with 16 points. A. J. Hoggard finished with 14 points and seven assists while Devin MCGlockton chipped in with 12 and M.J. Collins finished with 10 points for the home team.

Afterwards Calipari was complimentary of the Commodores and what they are building at Vanderbilt under first-year coach Mark Byington. Byington — like Calipari got his start as a basketball player at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington — and the pair share a place in that program's record books Calipari said.

"Vandy is obviously a pretty good seed in the NCAA tournament. They've gone in this league and done some unbelievable stuff," Calipari said. "We needed to win a game, and we did. But they're good, and they're well coached. They run great stuff.

"He's a he's a terrific coach — really good guy. He's come in here, and you could see a culture that he's building and what he's doing."

Enjoying the Ride

The next stop in the journey for Calipari's Razorbacks will be back in Bud Walton Arena where the Razorbacks will close out the SEC regular season on Saturday against No. 25 Mississippi State with an 11 a.m. tip off. The Bulldogs lost 82-87 at home in overtime on Tuesday to the Texas Longhorns — who Arkansas needed overtime to beat in their last home game a week ago.

""And our fans, these last games have been like, wow. And we were 0 and five. They were still being nice. I said, Jeez. What's gonna happen if we win a game or two?""

Arkansas coach John Callipari

"We had to win one of these two," Calipari said in regards to his team's still very much precarious postseason hopes. "We won this one. Now, hopefully, we'll show up for an 11:00 a.m. game. They're sending us home at three in the morning, and we play 11 a.m. game. I know they've done that to other teams in the league. Not!"

Calipari can only take solace in the way his team responded following the historically bad performance at South Carolina. That — and a much needed boost from the home crowd in the final home game of the season — may be just the formula to finally secure this version of the Arkansas Razorbacks a spot in the upcoming NCAA tournament affectionately known as March Madness.

"Well, what they've been through, we started 0 and five. Like, it's over. (The team) stinks," Calipari said of the team's perception at the time. "He can't coach. They can't play. He stinks. That kid stinks. And they were some of the guys taking bazooka shots at some of these kids. And they withstood it.

"They persevered. And I kept telling them, when you get through this, you're gonna be so much stronger — mentally tougher — that there'll be things later in life that happen to you that won't phase you. That would knock you on your back if you hadn't gone through this. And so now for me, for them to win the game like this when they had to and do it together, it's just you know..."

Calipari hopes the trials and tribulations of his first team at Arkansas are laying a foundation that future teams will build upon. He said he hopes Razorback fans will come out and show their appreciation on Saturday.

"We got some good kids coming in. You will see who's staying," Calipari said. "I just want Arkansas to be that team. The kids want to play there. The TV — two of the highest rated games this year were us, (against) Illinois and Kentucky. Those are top four. You want people to want to watch us.

"And our fans, these last games have been like, wow. And we were 0 and five. They were still being nice. I said, jeez. What's gonna happen if we win a game or two? But I'm happy for the guys. You know? Our hard work pays off."