Arkansas coach John Calipari said he considered calling timeout on the last possession of the No. 10 Razorbacks’ 85-83 overtime loss to No. 3 Texas Tech in the Sweet 16, but he decided against it.
“In my career I let that go,” Calipari said postgame, according to FOX College Hoops. “Let the guy get to the rim, they’re not going to foul you. … When you call timeout now you gotta worry about what (the opposing coach is) doing, how he’s playing, the inbound, what you are doing, so I usually let that go.
“Now because it ended the way it is, yeah, I wish I called a timeout. But 99% of the time I let that go. Because I know what they’re doing, they know what we’re doing. That’s why we did it.”
Texas Tech forward Darrion Williams made a turnaround layup with 7 seconds left in overtime. Arkansas inbounded the ball and advanced the possession, leading to a missed shot at the buzzer by Razorbacks guard D.J. Wagner – who had made the game-tying shot with 34 seconds left in the extra period.
Arkansas relinquished a 16-point lead in the defeat.
Calipari hadn’t made the Sweet 16 since 2019, when he took Kentucky to the Elite Eight. Since then he suffered three consecutive defeats in the first or second round with the Wildcats, leading him to join the SEC-rival Razorbacks.
In his first season with Arkansas, the team finished with a 22-14 record and was 8-10 in conference play. The Razorbacks pulled off upset wins over No. 7 Kansas and No. 2 St. John’s to reach the Sweet 16.
Despite the defeat, Calipari still believes the season was a positive experience.
“I feel like crap right now, but this was as rewarding a year as I’ve had in all my years,” Calipari said, according to March Madness. “I’ve had teams that were better and have finished better and were national champions and all that stuff – this was a different reward.”
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