John Calipari Eliminates Rick Pitino from NCAA Tournament in Battle of Former Kentucky Coaches

by:Nick Roush•03/22/25•

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Arkansas head coach John Calipari shrugs off another win over Rick Pitino, via Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

John Calipari may have worn a different color blazer on the sideline, but the NCAA Tournament scene in Providence looked familiar for Kentucky fans.

It was a physical basketball game with 44 fouls called. There were shot-takers, not shot-makers. The two teams combined to make just four threes on 41 attempts. In the end, Calipari got the last laugh over Rick Pitino.

Arkansas’ 75-65 victory over St. John’s puts the Hogs in the Sweet 16, a place Calipari hadn’t seen since 2019. In the 30th meeting between the two Hall of Fame coaches, Calipari improved his record over Pitino to 17-13. He now has a 3-2 advantage in head-to-head battles in the NCAA Tournament.

Injuries limited the Razorbacks for most of SEC play. It was self-inflicted on Saturday. Big Z fouled out with more than 11 minutes to play. Jonas Aidoo was on the sideline at the time with four fouls.

Fouls were an issue for St. John’s too. Rick Pitino gave officials an earful when Kadary Richmond fouled out with 6:28 on the clock after scoring just five points in 16 minutes. Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. was completely off his game. Pitino had him on the bench to close out the game after he made only 3-17 shots in a 9-point performance.

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This Arkansas team has blown big second-half leads all year, then escaped by the slimmest of margins. They almost got caught playing with fire. When Big Z was sent to the sideline, Arkansas led by 13. Less than two minutes later, it was a six-point game.

St. John’s was within two points at the four-minute mark when the Razorbacks landed the kill shot. It came in the form of bad St. John’s offense. They missed seven straight shots, five of which were threes. They even had 83% free throw shooters missing two from the charity stripe.

In the absence of Red Storm scoring, Billy Richmond delivered a dagger from midrange, two of his team-high 15 points. Another freshman previously committed to Kentucky, Karter Knox, scored 15, nine of which were from the free throw line.

Calipari received vindication by beating his long-time foe. That final handshake had to feel oh so sweet.