John Calipari reveals he was 'not in a good place' after win over Troy

Arkansas pulled away for a 65-49 win over Troy on Wednesday night. However, that doesn’t mean that Razorbacks coach John Calipari was in a great mood after the game.

Calipari was frustrated with the way Arkansas played down the stretch, which included committing three turnovers in the final 3:30.

“I was not in a good place in the locker room after the game. And the reason is, I need to teach these guys how to win and how to finish games,” John Calipari said postgame. “You don’t come down and throw a lob pass out of bounds and throw a deep pass out of bounds.

“And to shoot a quick 3, with 2 minutes to go. Drive the wrong way, we’re running offense, you dribble the ball out of bounds. ‘Why’d you do that?’ … In no uncertain terms I let him know, that ain’t happening.”

Despite all of that, Arkansas still played well in the second half of Wednesday’s 16-point win. The Razorbacks trailed by 1 at the break, before outscoring Troy 39-22 over the final 20 minutes.

Still, Calipari believes that if Arkansas ends an SEC game the way it ended the Troy game, the Razorbacks will lose.

“In an SEC game, it’s an 8-point game, you lose the game in two minutes because you do your own thing,” John Calipari said. “You play to win. That means massage the clock, score at the buzzer, shot clock. And what’s their team do? It’s ballgame.”

The biggest difference between the first half and the second half for Arkansas against the Trojans was that shots went in during the final 20 minutes. The Razorbacks were 2-for-11 shooting from 3-point range in the first half and 8-for-12 in the second half.

The only concern for Calipari with Arkansas shooting so well is that he doesn’t want his team to fall in love with the 3-point shot.

“How many of you all thought at halftime, ‘This may be the worst shooting team I’ve ever seen.’ And the hard thing, like all kinds of teams in the country right now are not making 3s. … But for this team, the way we drive the ball, if it’s contested at all, you should never shoot it,” John Calipari said.

“We’re not a great 3-point shooting team. If it’s contested at all, you should drive the ball. … But the end of the game, I was not happy at all.”