John Calipari reveals postgame message after Texas A&M loss: 'You had your chance'

John Calipari was very honest about the opportunity missed by Arkansas in College Station.

Calipari discussed his message to the Razorbacks after their 69-61 loss to No. 8 Texas A&M to end his postgame press conference. He said they’d have to ask his players how they received but that it was a straightforward one considering what that win could have meant to their resumé.

“In there? I don’t know. You’ll have to ask them,” Calipari said. “I needed to say it and then they got to respond to it. But I said it. And it wasn’t mean – I wasn’t cussing, I wasn’t yelling. I wasn’t. Matter of factly.”

“Look, they understand this was the game. So it’s not okay,” said Calipari. “This was it and you had your chance.”

Arkansas had put themselves back on the bubble with their best stretch of conference play recently at 4-2 prior to Saturday. Still, they dropped a potential upset at home last weekend to No. 4 Alabama and had another one here on the road against the Aggies. The ‘Hogs had fought through the first half hour but, over the final eight minutes, A&M outscored them at 19-11, including a 9-0 run that had the Razorbacks getting no closer than seven the rest of the game.

That’s even more frustrating as, again, like Calipari said, Arkansas had given themselves a chance to win but didn’t by the final buzzer inside Reed Arena.

“The crowd was quiet. No, you don’t understand. I said to my team, ‘I don’t hear anything,'” Calipari said. “We were in great shape. And then turnover, out of bounds play, boom. Miss an offensive rebound, immediately kick it out. We turn it over, they make a three. All of a sudden, you’re looking at seven or eight. What just happened? We’ve done that a couple of times – not many but we’ve done it a couple times.”

“They’re good,” said Calipari. “Kind of glad how we played but I’m disappointed in the turnovers, the missed shots, the opportunities.”

Now, with two more ranked games this week, starting with another on the road mid-week at No. 1 Auburn, Arkansas will be right back on the outside looking in for the field with a month now until Selection Sunday. That’ll have the ‘Hogs looking back at some of their crucial losses, like this one especially, depending on the outcomes of the next several games.

“We’ll see,” Calipari said.

Calipari explodes in press conference after loss to Aggies: ‘It’s not okay to say we’ll be alright’

Saturday’s game at Texas A&M was another opportunity to make a move for Arkansas but they came up short again with their tenth loss in total.

With that, John Calipari had a clear message after the game. He acknowledged his team has been close lately but, when it comes to people saying they’ll be okay, he made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t want to hear that.

“Normally, you say you are what your record says you are. But, in this league, the way this is, you’ve just got to get it going at the right time. And I thought we did,” Calipari said. “Alabama – they’re really good too. This team is really good. Guess what? We had a chance at both of them but we didn’t.”

“For us to bust through, we’re gonna have to beat somebody. We can say what we want. I wanted to make sure they weren’t happy we were going to be okay. No. If we won that game? Say it. We’re in the tournament. If we win that game, we’re in the tournament. So it’s not okay to say we’ll be alright!” Calipari exclaimed. “Now, you’re gonna have to go get somebody else. I didn’t want to put that on them because I got some guys a little bit fragile. So I’m having to hold them accountable but keep picking them up. And they’re a little fragile. But when you’re losing some games or you’re not playing well, that happens. And I still love coaching these guys. But I’ve got to hold them accountable. You pick them up.”