Calipari Pushes Right Buttons In Arkansas' NCAA Tournament Win Over Kansas

Trend breaks in Razorbacks coach's March Madness debut with Hogs

Arkansas Razorbacks head coach John Calipari reacts during the second half against the Kansas Jayhawks at Amica Mutual Pavilion. / Eric Canha-Imagn Images

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — John Calipari exorcised his early exit demons with a 79-72 upset of Kansas in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 at Amica Mutual Pavilion Thursday.

It was the latest — and most emphatic — example of Calipari escaping the allegations of being washed up, over the hill or past his prime as a coach, and it just so happened to come against another active Hall of Fame head coach in Bill Self.

Whether he admitted it openly, there is no doubt there was a deep level of validation, vindication and satisfaction that came from silencing critics in Providence after overcoming a laundry list of obstacles throughout the season.

"Every one of us, including me, had doubts and we all had to convince ourselves we're going to do this," Calipari said following the win. "I had a card I read every morning and every night before I went to bed, and it was I've been blessed throughout my life. Forget basketball. I have been blessed.

"Where we are, be at peace. Don't worry about where I am in the past. I didn't have any bearing on what I do now. The NCAA Tournament, talking about wins, it doesn't matter. National titles, none of it matters. It's this team trying to get us better, but it doesn't work unless you have good guys and we have a bunch of good guys."

The players obviously deserve a ton of credit for making plays and executing when it mattered most, but Calipari's fingerprints were all over the victory over the Jayhawks. He deserves his flowers.

For starters, Calipari made the move to pull struggling forward Zvonimir Ivisic out of the starting lineup in favor of Jonas Aidoo, who responded with a dominant 22 point, five rebound, three block, three steal performance against All-American big man Hunter Dickinson.

The Jayhawks had no answer for Aidoo in ball-screen action as as short roller, and Calipari went back to the well until he forced Self's hand to make the switch to a zone.

In fairness to Kansas, the zone worked wonders in slowing down the Razorbacks, but Calipari was able to draw up an out-of-timeout lob play for Trevon Brazile and eventually moved Aidoo to the high post to operate, which opened things up substantially for the final stretch.

"I thought I prepared us for zone, but I did a poor job, but we learned about ourselves because in the past with Adou Thiero we'd just get the ball in the middle," Calipari said.

"Now we tried to do the same with other players, but they're not Adou. So, we had to go to a different thing, and the kids hung on. Made shots, made free throws."

Much was made about the return of freshman guard Boogie Fland after a 15-game absence, and Calipari deserves credit for the way he deployed his new weapon.

Fland came off the bench at the 13:03 mark, played 24 minutes and was a key contributor in the winning effort with a critical steal and transition score late in the game.

Rather than put him right back on the ball, Calipari utilized Fland in an off-ball role running off screens in floppy action and allowing D.J. Wagner and Johnell Davis to continue to cook in featured spots.

As it turns out, Arkansas looked better with Fland on the floor, and his presence will loom large in Saturday's game with St. John's.

Lastly, Arkansas' struggles inbounding against a full-court press late in games has been well-documented.

With a three-point lead and 12 seconds remaining, Calipari was challenged to draw up three separate press breakers to get the ball safely inbounds and get the Razorbacks to the charity stripe.

The third time was the charm as he opted to move Wagner to the inbounds position, brought Fland to the baseline the shift the defense, and have the entry pass come to his best free throw shooter in Davis, who iced the game at the stripe.

"Took us three times to get it in. I don't care," Calipari said. "We won. If it took us four, you know what we didn't do? We didn't turn it over. So, it took our third out of bounds play to get in in. That's fine."

HOGS FEED:

• Arkansas, Kansas put on show befitting higher seeds

• Rough Night for Calipari Haters as Hogs' Lean on Toughness, Grit

• Razorbacks Topple Kansas, Advance in NCAA Tournament

• No questions at QB1 for Razorbacks while backups lot of uncertainty

• 'Someone must have been sick' for committee to place Hogs in Providence

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