Here's Why John Calipari Was Extremely Impressed With The Houston Cougars

No. 8 Houston basketball defeated the No. 14 Arkansas Razorbacks 94-85 on Saturday evening in the Never Forget Tribute Classic.

After the much anticipated battle, Arkansas head coach John Calipari had nothing but praise for how Houston performed over the weekend.

"We've had a heck of a run, but that team is better than us right now," Calipari said.

John Calipari Praises Houston

While Calipari declined a media availability after the loss, he did speak to a few Arkansas reporters and raved about the Cougars' team.

Calipari mentioned that his game plan early in the game was to not try to make the big plays and keep everything simple.

Well, it was a good idea until Houston came out playing elite-level defense, forcing the Razorbacks to shift plans.

"The biggest thing is, we talked about easy plays. Don't try to make the hardest plays, that gets them going," Calipari said. "So in that first 10 minutes we had more turnovers than the average, and for the last 30 minutes we only had three. But by that time, we were down 18 and we were missing free-throws."

The Cougars defense was a real test out of the gate for Arkansas, and Houston ended the game with 12 forced turnovers, which led to 19 points.

"Give them credit. One, we could not stay in front of them. They didn't even run anything. They just spread the court, and went on a dribble, and shot layups."

Freshman guard Kingston Flemings was a big problem for Arkansas, as he scored 21 points, and he consistently got to the rim throughout the entire game.

Senior guards Milos Uzan and Emanuel Sharp also took charge on several plays, which resulted in several easy baskets.

Calipari was frustrated overall with his team's defense, and he thought the offense played a solid game against one of the best defenses in the country.

"So we scored 85 points, that is enough to win the game... You can't get sloppy against a team whose play is driven by how they guard," Calipari said.

Arkansas was also surprised with the Cougars use of zone defense, which threw the Razorbacks off in the second half.

"Houston hadn't played zone defense in probably three years, and they went zone," Calipari said. "We were okay. We got it where we wanted it and made a few shots, but they don't ever play zone, and they did."

Calipari ended his media availability with two powerful statements which showed how strong Houston basketball really is.

"They are a really good team. They are a top five or six team, they are that good. We got work to do," Callipari said. "We played five ridiculously good top-10 teams, and we two and three. This is the only one that I never felt we had a chance. The others, I felt like we couldv'e won both of them. This one kind of got away, and then their guard play kind of dominated us."