Arkansas, John Calipari give Kentucky basketball glimpse of what may have been in upset

Posted by author February 2, 2025 Basketball

LEXINGTON — John Calipari, pacing the sideline, barking instructions. Adou Thiero driving, drawing fouls, stepping to the line, knocking down free throws. D.J. Wagner slashing and distributing to open teammates. Zvonimir Ivišić swishing shots beyond the 3-point arc. Five-star freshman Billy Richmond III grabbing a rebound and throwing a coast-to-coast, highlight-reel pass to another five-star freshman, Karter Knox, capping the play with a two-handed dunk. Assistant coaches Chin Coleman and Chuck Martin greeting players coming off the floor during breaks in the action. Staffer Tyler Ulis bringing his usual Energizer Bunny-like liveliness.

These were the sights, the sounds, Kentucky basketball fans expected to see from their beloved team during the 2024-25 season.

At least, the team they envisioned 10 months ago.

That squad took the floor Saturday night at Rupp Arena. But players weren’t wearing blue-and-white uniforms. And Calipari’s sports coat was red.

These were the 2024-25 Arkansas Razorbacks, not the 2024-25 Kentucky Wildcats.

Calipari set this moment into motion last April, when he shockingly left UK after 15 seasons guiding the program to set up shop in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

After all the buildup leading into Saturday’s matchup — Would Calipari be cheered or booed during the pregame? (Both, it turns out.) Could Arkansas even make it a game as a double-digit underdog that has had a forgettable season to this point? — the opposing team put on a show.

Calipari’s new club sent his old one — and its fans — into the chilly Kentucky night mourning a loss.

Arkansas took a one-point lead just before the first half ended and never looked back, authoring an 89-79 upset.

“My guys were really hurting in that locker room,” UK coach Mark Pope said. “They know what this building means. They know what this jersey means. They see everything and hear everything. They know what matters. They’re getting a (firsthand), up-close look at how much it means to the people they’re playing for.”

On a surreal night, Kentucky fans peered through the looking glass of what may have been. The team they might have adored and obsessed over had Calipari stuck around for Year 16 in Lexington.

The alternate-universe reality that may have come to pass for the Wildcats was impossible to miss Saturday.

Four-fifths of Arkansas’ starting lineup had ties to Kentucky (15-6, 4-4 SEC): Ivišić, Thiero and Wagner were Wildcats last year, while Knox was an incoming signee. As was Richmond. That’s not even mentioning another UK-turned-Arkansas recruit: point guard Boogie Fland, who already had established himself as one of the best freshmen in college hoops before suffering a season-ending hand injury in January.

The quintet that played Saturday accounted for 66 of the Razorbacks’ 89 points. Four of them scored 10 or more points, led by Thiero’s team-high 21 (to go along with eight rebounds and three steals, a game high). Returning to Rupp for the first time since hitting the transfer portal last year, Thiero said he “got my emotions out of the way” Friday, when the team arrived at the arena.

“A lot of memories were made here,” he said.

Wagner echoed that, saying at times during Friday’s shootaround, it was “a little weird” being at Rupp but dressing out in the visitor’s locker room.

“Once that was over, it was a little easier to lock in,” said Wagner, who finished with eight assists — a total that not only led all players Saturday but marked his most since joining the Razorbacks — and 17 points (remarkably, all in the second half) on 7-of-13 shooting from the field.

Beyond the players, three more ex-Wildcats were on the Razorbacks’ bench: Coleman, Martin and Ulis were part of Calipari’s final staff at UK, then followed him to Arkansas (13-8, 2-6).

Prior to Saturday, Calipari had little to hang his hat on in his maiden campaign with the Razorbacks. They had just one Quad 1 victory (over Michigan in New York) in eight tries. And they dropped six of their seven conference clashes. Now, regardless of what else happens this season, Calipari won a personal Super Bowl of sorts.

Known for his bombastic personality, Calipari couldn’t have been more composed or humble during his postgame news conference Saturday.

“Swaggy Cal” was nowhere to be seen.

Asked to describe his emotions barely half an hour after his 235th win at Rupp Arena — but first as an opposing coach — he immediately deflected attention away from himself. This was about his team. One sorely in need of good news — of any sort — as it entered Saturday with just one victory since the calendar flipped to 2025.

“I made it clear: It was a privilege and an honor to coach here. We had 15 unbelievable years. A great run. The fans supported us. The families that entrusted us with our sons,” he said without finishing his thought, noting he had received nearly 200 text messages by the time the final buzzer sounded, many of which he knew were former UK players commending him. “Not that they’re ever going to root against Kentucky. They went to school here. But they also have a relationship with me.”

Though that was the last thing on his mind as the night unfolded.

“I was into the game,” Calipari said. “I was going play to play, trying to drag us over the finish line.”

The loss changes little for UK.

Other than seeking bragging rights over their ex-coach, the Wildcats (No. 12 in both the USA TODAY Coaches and the Associated Press Top 25 polls) weren’t playing for much Saturday. On the strength of its seven Quad 1 triumphs — third most of any team in the country — Kentucky would be safely into the NCAA Tournament if it started next week. A top-three seed would await as it chased a Sweet 16 berth for the first time since 2019. And possibly, if things broke right, a Final Four appearance — the first since 2015, when Calipari’s iconic team won its first 38 games before falling to Wisconsin in the national semifinals.

That’s more than a month away, however, with 10 more regular-season games, and the SEC Tournament, still in front of UK.

Yet the hype surrounding Saturday’s game, and the reunion with Calipari, was all-consuming for Kentucky’s players. They did their best to filter it out; it just wasn’t possible. Before taking the court for pregame warmups, center Amari Williams said he and his teammates tried to relax by watching other games on television. But seemingly every break in the action, Williams said, was an opportunity for announcers to discuss Calipari and the Wildcats, the Wildcats and Calipari.

On and on.

“I feel like the only distraction was seeing all the cameras on Cal when we were trying to do layup lines,” said Williams, who posted a double-double thanks to game highs in points (22) and rebounds (11). “So that was a bit annoying.”

Far more irksome to the Wildcats was the outcome.

At Kentucky, expectations always are stratospheric. The fan base of the winningest college basketball program of all time wants to win every game. Some just mean more than others.

Saturday certainly qualifies.

“We know how much the fans wanted this win,” senior forward Ansley Almonor said. “So, not being able to go out there and get the result we wanted? It sucks.”

Pope, who wears his heart on his sleeve and never is shy about stating his love for UK (his alma mater) and respect for Calipari (his predecessor), conceded Saturday was difficult for all involved. One few programs ever have had to come to grips with: facing the man who was the most successful coach in Lexington since Adolph Rupp built it into a superpower.

“If there’s anything about tonight, it was just all kind of complicated, conflicting, upside down, twisted-up feelings with everybody in BBN,” Pope said, “and certainly our guys had that come out of this game.”

On a night Calipari could have responded any number of ways — gloat, taunt, belittle or brag — after vanquishing his former employer, instead, he came to his replacement’s defense.

No one knows the pressure, and intense scrutiny, Pope deals with daily better than the man who sat in his chair the previous 15 seasons.

“Mark Pope is doing a great job. Not a good job. A great job,” Calipari said. “Today? We kind of got them today. Just move on. Next game. This is one game.

“And if anybody takes it (as) more than that? You’re crazy. It’s one game.”

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.