'We wanna win every game we play,' John Calipari talks revenge win over USC

Arkansas Razorback head basketball coach John Calipari caused something of a stir when he intimated during the lead up to a rematch with the No. 16-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks (12-20) to open the 2025 Southeastern Conference Tournament that he "could careless" about winning the annual SEC battle royal which jumped off in Nashville on Wednesday. None the less, the Naismith Hall of Fame coach grew quite concerned that his team managed to hang on for a 72-68 victory, which all but guaranteed Arkansas (20-12) a ticket to the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

John Calipari talks SEC Tournament win against South Carolina

"We wanna win every game we play," said Calipari who coaches the youngest team in the conference in his first year at Arkansas. "But I don't need the kids (feeling the extra pressure). We've gotta do this. There's the next tournament, and then you win it anyway."

South Carolina, which finished in the cellar of the SEC regular season, handed Arkansas their only loss in a five-game stretch to end the season — and their most embarrassing loss on the season as a whole.

A second-loss in 12 days to the Gamecocks in the conference's post season tournament opener would have put Arkansas' hard-earned prospects of receiving an invitation to the Big Dance very much in doubt. However after squandering a 20-point second half lead, D.J. Wagner hit a clutch three-pointer to put Arkansas ahead for good and Arkansas hung on to advance in the lesser tournament thanks to free throws by Johnell Davis in the final seconds.

A lot of SEC tournament wins for 'someone who doesn't care'

"(It would) be nice to win it again," said Calipari whose team will next face Ole Miss at noon on Thursday. "I don't know exactly how many of those we've won. How many? Somebody told me 87 tournament games for a guy that doesn't care.

"You'll have to look. They tried to tell me yesterday. I don't know, and I think it's about almost 80 percent win (percentage) for a guy that doesn't care. There should be a lot of guys not caring."

Unlike in the first meeting between the two teams, Arkansas came out with the fearless mindset Calipari has been preaching to his team all season. Arkansas used an 11-0 run to take a 17-point 47-30 lead into halftime.

Frontcourt Revival

Senior Center Jonas Aidoo, who finished with his third double double in the last four games, scored all 14 of his points in the first half to go with 11 rebounds and a block in the game. His efforts helped set the tone early by coming off the bench to help contain South Carolina's Collin Murry-Boyles who decimated Arkansas in Columbia South Carolina on March 1st and finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds on Wednesday.

Arkansas seemed in control well into the second half and led 59-41 with 14 minutes to play. That's when the Gamecocks mustered the same kind of stifling defensive effort which held an Arkansas team that averaged over 90 points in their four victories to close out the regular season to only 14 points in a half at South Carolina.

As the Razorbacks missed their 12 consecutive shots over an 11 minute span, went on a 19-2 run to make it a one point ball game with just over three minutes left. Arkansas finally broke the dry spell thanks to senior forward Trevon Brazile saving a ball from going out of bounds and getting it to an open Wagner. The sophomore point guard, who finished with 13 points and six assists, knocked down his third triple of the game with 2:37 remaining.

Brazile later added a put back and senior guard Johnell Davis made several foul shots in the closing seconds — including one he tried to intentionally miss — to seal the win. Brazile continued his stellar revival of late with a team-high 16 points to go with seven boards, four steals and a block. Davis added 14 points, two assists and three steals of his own, and freshman wing Billy Richmond got into the act with nine points and four assists in a reserve point-guard role.

Sweet, Sweet revenge

"They kinda punked us last game in front of the home crowd. So coming into the tournament, knowing we wanna win as many games as we can, get to the championship, You know, we just had to dominate as soon as we saw them," Aidoo said. "We tried to get out in transition as much as we can, get stops, get out in transition. I feel like they helped us a lot.

"And then when we got up, like coach said, we got tentative, so we can't do that next game. And then we get up like that, just keep keep going at them every single time."

Wagner added that the Razorbacks knew better than to judge the Gamecocks by their record, and they expected a fight to the finish in the rematch.

"Yeah. We knew, coming in, you know, they're a great team," he said. "You know, every tournament every team in this tournament is a great team.

"So just to be able to make that run, you know, it was good for us going in into the half feeling good. But, you know, we knew we had to fight the whole game because they're a great team, and we knew they wasn't gonna quit. And that's what they did. They kept fighting. So we had to play forty minutes."

Looking toward Ole Miss

Calipari said his team can expect an even tougher challenge on Thursday when they face an Ole Miss team which beat Arkansas 73-66 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville in Arkansas' home conference opener.

"My team is different. I got totally a different team, and (Ole Miss) played well all year," Calipari said. "Chris (Beard) has done a fabulous job. It'll be a hard game for us. A long time ago, it was second game of the year.

"So every tournament we go in, we're doing it for one reason. We wanna win games to build up our seed. Now along the way, for a guy that does not care about conference tournaments, I'm guessing it's 15 or 16. So if you don't care, the kids don't care. No one cares. Then I'm a magician. So how about maybe you're taking the pressure off the kids. That this is just another thing for us to get better and improve ourselves."