John Calipari Has 6-Word Message After Arkansas Collapse In Sweet 16

03/28/2025 08:31 AM

John Calipari was on the verge of silencing his doubters and taking Arkansas to the Elite Eight on Thursday night. Instead, he found himself at the podium trying to figure out what went wrong. 

Despite having a 16-point lead over Texas Tech in the second half, Arkansas failed to take care of business down the stretch. There was a chance for the Razorbacks to redeem themselves in overtime, but they came up short. 

Prior to this year's Sweet 16, Calipari was 35-0 in his NCAA Tournament career when holding at least a six-point lead at halftime. That record got destroyed by Texas Tech.

During Calipari's postgame press conference, he told reporters, "I feel like crap right now."

Calipari later admit that he felt like this season was one of the most rewarding ones he's had in his career. Obviously, it just didn't end the way he wanted it to. 

D.J. Wagner missed a potential game-tying shot that would've sent Thursday's game into double overtime. Arkansas had one timeout remaining, but Calipari refused to use it. 

Calipari opened up about that decision during his postgame press conference. 

"In my career, I let that go," Calipari explained. "Let the guy get to the rim. They're not going to foul you. With that kind of time, just me, you call a timeout, now you've got to worry about what he's doing, how he's playing, the inbound, what are you doing. So I usually let that go. Now, because it ended the way it did, yeah, I wish I would have called a timeout. But 99 percent of the time, I let that go." 

Arkansas finished this season with a 22-14 record. Although it was a fun season, some fans will be wondering what went wrong. 

Related: John Calipari Gets Ripped For 'Choking' Sweet 16 Game