Calipari's "loose" pregame attitude helped Kentucky refuse to lose at Arkansas

The chips were stacked against Kentucky in Fayetteville today. Not only were the Cats without a true point guard, they were also coming off a disappointing loss to Vanderbilt at home on Wednesday night. When the news broke this morning that Cason Wallace would be out, hopes for a win over the Razorbacks were low.

Yet, as they’ve done on more than one occasion this season, the Cats went out and did the opposite of what we thought they would: notch a massive win. Today’s 88-79 victory over Arkansas is Kentucky’s third most impressive of the season behind the sweep of Tennessee, which was also improbable. Those three wins are all in Quad 1A, meaning the best of the best in the eyes of the Selection Committee. Kentucky is now 6-7 in Quad 1 and could get a few more Quad 1 wins with a strong run in the SEC Tournament, especially if Antonio Reeves stays hot.

It’s been hard to summarize this team’s identity thus far due to their inconsistent play, but maybe that is their defining feature. Just when you count them out, they roar back and prove you wrong. Nicknames happen naturally, but “The Unpredictables” feels pretty apt given the highs and lows of the season. The wall behind their backs should be the real MVP.

Calipari on Vanderbilt loss: “I wasn’t as loose as I was this game”

During his postgame conversation with Tom Leach, John Calipari said he consciously made an effort to be loose around his players knowing how tight things were during and after the loss to Vanderbilt. That game was so tense that, after making a few bad mistakes, Jacob Toppin vented his frustrations at Calipari at the end of the first half, for which he later apologized. Today, Toppin returned to his form as a team leader, posting 21 points. Several of those buckets came in crucial moments, like the three to put Kentucky up eight with 8:50 to go and the three with 6:07 left to push the Cats’ lead back to nine.

“He should not have taken any blame for that last loss,” Calipari said of Toppin. “[Vanderbilt] was another team that played with nothing to lose and they started making shots and we did not come with the focus and intensity as that team. He didn’t, but neither did anybody else. And I wasn’t as loose as I was this game, so I may have been feeling it too. So, you know, that’s on all of us. Not just on Jacob.”

Leach noted Calipari’s loose demeanor in their pregame meetings with CBS’ broadcast crew.

“Was I tight?” Calipari asked.

“You sat and talked and laughed for like ten minutes after you and I finished up!” Leach exclaimed. “I thought you were going to keep talking.”

“Well, here’s what I said to the guys,” Calipari said. “At this time of the year — and again, I’ve done this a long time, a lot of games in March, and April. At this time of the year, you’re trying to make sure you’re establishing how you’re going to play in the NCAA Tournament; that’s what you’re doing.

“Now you want to win, but these aren’t season-ending losses, so you can lose. But did you do this stuff? Did you execute? Did everybody come to play? Did we fight, did we go get rebounds? Do we make tough free throws? And if you lose playing that way, you’ll move on.”

Kentucky will be the No. 3 seed at the SEC Tournament next week. Even though a strong run in Nashville could help the Cats move up a few more seed lines, he wants his team to stay focused on the little things to prepare for the NCAA Tournament.

“The tournament is the same — and you know I always said I’m not a big fan of tournaments. And again, my teams have won probably more tournament championships at the schools I’ve been at, then, you know, but that’s because I don’t make it a big deal. We’re using the game to maybe improve our seed, but really, we’re using the game to prepare us to play in that [NCAA] Tournament and historically we’ve done fine. We had a blip last year.”

“So, you know, I look at this now and I just say, ‘Look, let’s keep this rolling.'”

Today, it worked, leading to a loose celebration in the locker room as well.

What a way to finish the regular season. #GoBigBlue pic.twitter.com/5x4OzAq5ha

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) March 4, 2023

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