Lost in the shuffle of a day of hoops that included Duke vs. North Carolina, a LeBron triple-double at MSG, a flurry of upsets in college basketball, and oh yeah, an Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic trade that has turned the NBA upside down and inside out, coaching legend John Calipari was victorious in a long-anticipated homecoming at Rupp Arena. The Arkansas Razorbacks were one of six unranked teams to defeat a Top 25 opponent on Saturday, defeating Kentucky 89-79 in Calipari's first game against the team he took to the Elite Eight or beyond seven times, including in 2012, when he guided the Wildcats to a National Title.
Behind a combined 52 points from three of Coach Cal's former Wildcats — Adou Thiero, DJ Wagner and Zvonimir Ivisic — Arkansas scored what is certainly their biggest win of the season, one which gives fans in Fayetteville reason to believe that that Razorbacks are right back on the bubble. After the win, John Calipari should've been all smiles, but a night of celebration was briefly interrupted when a few of his players began exchanging words with members of Big Blue Nation.
Needless to say, Coach Cal was having none of that.
Arkansas coach John Calipari scolded his team for talking back to fans in his post-game interview after they upset No. 12 Kentucky 😳 pic.twitter.com/RvHyb2lVRq
— ESPN (@espn) February 2, 2025
Once the dust had settled, Calipari was able to rejoice in Arkansas' victory, and predictably, he passed the credit off to his players.
“We played with more confidence because we played fearless,” Calipari told ESPN after the game. “So proud of them. Good win on the road. Hard game to win in this building. I've been here. So it's a hard game to win.”
Calipari is well aware of how hard it is to win at Rupp. He had a 248-26 record at home during his fifteen seasons at Kentucky. But after 274 games as the home team in one arena, it's understandable that Cal would be caught off-guard a few times when looking up at the scoreboard as a visitor.
“I've got to be honest with you: I looked up a couple of times, and I thought we were losing because I kept looking at Kentucky instead of Arkansas,” Calipari said.
But just as he had 248 times previously inside Rupp Arena, Cal was victorious on Saturday night.