John Calipari reveals change in Arkansas' game that he was pleased by

Arkansas first-year head coach John Calipari was frustrated with the way the Razorbacks finished a win over Troy last week, stating that he was “not in a good place” after the game because “I need to teach these guys how to win and how to finish games.”

Calipari saw progress on Monday when Arkansas pulled away for a 91-72 win over Pacific.

He shared after the win that he loved the way the Razorbacks played down the stretch.

“The one thing I was really happy with – what was I angry about last game? … The finish of the game. You saw how you finish a ballgame now, how you’re supposed to,” John Calipari said. “That made me happy, that we moved it, used clock, score late in the clock. Bang. Do that twice, the game’s over. Now it goes from 12 to whatever, and they don’t have enough time and enough attempts to beat you. They have to learn all this, and so today was a good day for that.”

Arkansas led Pacific only 66-61 with 11:36 remaining, but the Razorbacks slowly pulled away down the stretch.

Arkansas limited possessions late in the game to ensure that there would be no comeback by the Tigers.

“We did a couple of different things to finish the game. And those are more massaging the clock a little bit. You can give them four possessions or nine,” John Calipari said. “In four they’ve got to make every single shot and we’ve got to miss every single shot. But if you give them eight, they can beat you. And that’s what these guys have got to understand and I thought they did better.”

Arkansas is off to a 3-1 start to the season after Monday’s win over Pacific. The Razorbacks have wins over Lipscomb, Troy and Pacific, with the only loss being a 72-67 defeat by Baylor in Dallas.

John Calipari and the Razorbacks have upcoming games against Little Rock and Maryland Eastern Shore, before facing Illinois Nov. 28 in Kansas City.