GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Arkansas coach John Calipari needed D.J. Wagner’s 3-pointer in the final minute to avoid the most-lopsided loss of his career.
Still, the 34-point drubbing at No. 7 Florida on Saturday night matched the worst margin of defeat in Calipari’s 34 years.
“Wait a minute. My first year at UMass I had to have some of these,” Calipari quipped after a 111-77 loss to the defending national champion Gators.
Nope. Some 30-pointers, but nothing
quite like this or Kentucky’s loss to Duke in November 2018. Calipari was coaching the Wildcats at the time.
“Look, I’ve done this so long, stuff happens,” said Calipari, in his second season at Arkansas after 15 years at Kentucky, nine at Memphis and eight at UMass. “I told them, ‘We had a great February. We got two games left. Let’s get out of here and go.’ I said it wasn’t my team. This is not the team I’ve been coaching.
“But I did tell some guys, ‘You got to do some soul searching and be honest with yourself. Why did you play the way you played?’ Not a whole lot else you can do.”
It was mostly a debacle all game, with Florida building a double-digit lead early, stretching it 30 midway through the second half and then celebrating at least a share of the Southeastern Conference title.
About the biggest drama was Calipari and Florida coach Todd Golden screaming at each other early in the second half and drawing double-technicals. Calipari’s assistants had to pull him away from midcourt. Golden, meanwhile, turned and started to rile up the home crowd.
Both coaches said they couldn’t even recall what started the exchange.
“Who knows? We’re both competitors,” Calipari said. “He’s done a great job. I can tell you: He outcoached me today.”
No. 20 Arkansas (21-8, 11-5 SEC) lost for just the second time in February. Seven Florida players scored in double figures while the Gators outrebounded the Razorbacks 51-31 and controlled the paint throughout.
“It was going to come back to our will versus their will,” said Calipari, who had won his previous six trip to Gainesville. “And if you stop playing, they keep moving their feet and put you in bad positions. And they did that to us a bunch. We had some opportunities to rebound. They just beat us to a ball. … They outrebound us by 20. Come on. You’re not going to win that game. You’re not.
“I wish it would have gone faster.”
Billy Richmond III led the Razorbacks with 22 points, including 14 in the first 15 minutes. Darius Acuff Jr., who leads the SEC in scoring and assists, finished with 17 points and six assists.
But forwards Travon Brazile, Nick Pringle and Malique Ewin spent much of the night in foul trouble while trying to defend Florida’s formidable frontcourt of Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu.
“They’re not afraid to throw you around,” Calipari said of Florida. “That’s how they play. If you’re avoiding their contact, you can’t play in this game. And we had a bunch of guys try to go sideways and then come back and back and back. You can’t play that way.”
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