John Calipari caps 'Most rewarding season' with win over Mississippi State

There may be some smooth walks ahead for John Calipari as head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks but his initial trek through the familiar stomping grounds of the Southeastern Conference regular season turned out to be quite the rickety ride. That doesn't mean it wasn't rewarding, however as Arkansas (19-12, 8-10 SEC) fended off No. 25 Mississippi State (20-11, 8-10 SEC) by a 93-92 final at Bud Walton Arena on Saturday to likely seal what was not too long ago an improbable bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Everything John Calipari and the plays said after Mississippi State

"Heck of a basketball game. Glad we won it," the Naismith Hall of Fame coach said to the media afterwards. "Love how we fought. And I told (the team). Man, I've done this a long time. And this may be the most rewarding season for me because there are a bunch of good kids that struggled early and in their own individual way — and then collectively — we struggled early. Yet because they were good people, they stuck together. Our staff never blamed and just kept working with them."

After starting his first SEC campaign at Arkansas by losing their first five games of 2025, Calipari's Razorbacks won five of the next eight in what many people consider to be the toughest basketball conference in NCAA history. Saturday's season finale, however may have assured Calipari avoids the embarrassment of missing the NCAA Tournament in his debut season in Fayetteville.

""I think it's real important just to keep playing the way we plan. I feel like it just shows how many great players we've got. Any given night, it could be somebody different. And on nights like this when a lot of people have double digit scoring, it just shows how good of a team we've got and, how much we trust each other.""

D.J. Wagner

Calipari said he is not looking ahead however and his team is focused on continuing to improve going into the SEC Tournament which begins at noon on Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee.

"The (NCAA selection) committee will make a decision. So you get out ahead of yourself," Calipari said. "We've just got to keep trying to get better. They told me we have South Carolina who beat us."

Hits played by DJ

DJ Wagner, who led the Razorbacks with 24 points on Saturday, shrugged off a slow start of his own and finished strong in the second half by hitting some crucial three pointers down the stretch — including a clutch three to put Arkansas up with 44 second left in the game. Arkansas used a 10-0 run to take command of a close game going into halftime, but the Bulldogs fought back with a 12-0 run to take the lead with over three minutes to play after trailing by as many as 17 in the second half.

"My teammates just going into halftime or even in practice them telling me to be aggressive and just to play with confidence and all that kind of stuff," Wagner said. "So I feel like that's been helping me a lot.

"You know, we all make each other confident from practicing together and just being in the game. If somebody misses or something like that, we tell them, 'You know, forget about it.' Just having an aggressive mindset really and them telling me to have an aggressive mindset (was the key to Saturday's performance).

Much Aidoo about something

Arkansas center Jonas Aidoo, who finished with a season-high 21 points to go with 10 rebounds, provided what turned out to be the final margin of victory when he made the first of two foul shots with 11 seconds to play. Razorback freshman Billy Richmond then made a key defensive play on the defensive end to help Arkansas hang on and secure the highest seed (No. 9) in the opening round of the SEC Tournament, which begins on Wednesday at noon central with the Razorbacks playing a South Carolina team which handed them an embarrassing defeat in South Carolina one week prior.

By virtue of head-to-head wins over Texas, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State in the final two weeks of regular season play however, Arkansas will get a chance at redemption against the Gamecocks to open the conference tournament.

"That wasn't my team (at South Carolina)," said Calipari, whose team has now won four of their last five games by scoring an average of 90 points in their wins while being held to 53 in the only loss during that stretch against the SEC's last place team. "We were 0-for-17, missed free throws, missed one footers, missed this, couldn't guard, got pushed, got this. We were down 40. That was not my team, so I'm not watching the tape."

Calipari added later that he'll likely delegate breaking down what happened in the South Carolina loss to his assistants.

"My first thought is I'm not even watching it, and I may not," he said. "Because I'll see it, and I can see their last few games and have an idea. And then I'll tell my staff, 'You guys watch it. Give me what I need to know because I am not going through that again.'"

Calipari would much prefer the version of his team that comes into the SEC tournament as one of the hottest in the league — while overcoming the loss of the team's top two leading scorers on the season in point guard Boogie Fland and forward Adou Thiero. Even in three of Arkansas' final five losses, the Razorbacks showed they can play with the best teams in the country with close losses against then No. 3 Alabama (84-81), at then No. 8 Texas A&M (61-69) and at then No. 1 Auburn (60-67).

Arkansas' other two losses in that stretch were 62-65 at home to Oklahoma and at South Carolina.

"Here's what we know," Calipari said. "We can lose to anybody. We can beat anybody. So what do you want to do? You can be miserable or win the game. And part of that is they've got to make plays both on defense and offense."

As they did on Saturday, the remaining seven man rotation stepped up to overcome adversity as Richmond and senior guard Johnell Davis also scored in double figures with 10 and 15 points respectively.

Viva Brazile

However no Razorback has stepped up bigger since the South Carolina debacle than senior forward Trevon Brazile who over came foul trouble in the first half to record a second-consecutive double doubles with 11 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Mississippi State.

"You know, every player's important, but definitely (Brazile) is being able to show what kind of player he is," said Wagner who helped Brazile get off to a good start in the second half with an alley oop dunk. "Just him having the games he been having, he's been playing good, but, you know. I don't feel like we're surprised or nothing like that. He been doing that in practice all year.

"The first half, I go in and say he played bad in the first half. You know, he got in foul trouble and stuff like that, but in the second half, he came out and he played good."

Numbers Game

With only seven players currently available in his playing rotation, Calipari once again reiterated how important it is for his team to get production out of each player if his team is going to be successful going into postseason play. Calipari said he has played with as few as five in the rotation during his days with the Minute Men of Massachusettes, so he's comfortable with only seven to work with — when necessary.

"Six guys were so happy. They're playing every minute. These seven should be happy," Calipari said. "You're gonna play — go play well. You wanna play more — play well. Every coach learns something, obviously. You get better doing so. 

"Look. What I kept telling myself was forget about what you've done in the past. Just coach this team because that could be an anchor around your neck. The least amount of games we've won in this league that I've coached in the league has been eight. So in the COVID year and this year — eight. But the league wasn't the same. So I can't judge all that. For us to get the eight, I would you say this team accomplished a lot."

Couldn't keep the Bulldogs Down

Mississippi State had all but two players in their eight-man rotation score in double figures against Arkansas. Josh Hubbard led the charge with 17. Claudell Harris Jr. came off the bench with a team-high 18 points. Cameron Matthews and Keyshawn Murphy had 13 each and Riley Kugel and RJ Melendez had 12 and 10 respectively.

The only Bulldogs not to score in double figues was Michael Nwoko who finished with nine.

"They're really good. They're a top 25 team," Calipari said. "They're really good, and we got out (with the win). They missed a shot (at the buzzer), and we rebounded, and then we win the game. But they're good."

Aidoo who transferred to Arkansas following an All-SEC campaign at Tennessee a year ago said he expected no less from a ranked team like the Bulldogs. However, he hopes his young team can learn a lesson in how to finish off teams if they get them down going forward.

"You expect a (good) team to go on big runs like that, especially." Aidoo said. "I felt like we kind of let go of the rope a little bit because we started making a lot of big winning plays, and then we got a little too complacent on the defensive end. That's where we wanna start everything and then get out on transition. So we gotta keep our feet on their necks next time if something like that happens for sure."

Accountability is the key

Going into the postseason Calipari said he's pleased with how this team has played well at times, but he also has to hold them accountable when they play below their capabilities.

"The trick when you're going through that is that you must keep picking them up," he said. "But you still have got to be a truth teller, and you gotta hold them accountable. But pick them up. Say, 'I love you, but you're not doing the right stuff right now. You're playing really hard, but you're not doing enough for us.' And playing hard in itself is not good enough.

"I was on (Wagner) because he had a couple bad turnovers. Like, again, he played great, but you gotta hold him accountable. Those could have cost us the game, and they were for no reason. You drive and there's three guys, you're passing that. You're not losing that one. So, yes, he was unbelievable."

Wagner said the team will continue to rally around the messages coming from their veteran coach.

"I think it's real important, you know, just to keep playing the way we plan," Wagner said. "I feel like it just shows how many great players we've got. Any given night, it could be somebody different. And on nights like this when a lot of people have double digit scoring, it just shows how good of a team we got and, how much we trust each other.

"It's important going into the tournament because now in this week, we could play our best basketball. So, I mean, we all decided, but it's all about pairing and just making sure we prepare."