Arkansas basketball had to learn to play physical before run to Sweet 16

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Rick Pitino and John Calipari address media after round of 32 showdown

Rick Pitino and John Calipari address media after Arkansas beat St. John’s in round of 32 of the NCAA men’s tournament — VIDEO: NCAA

Sports Pulse

FAYETTEVILLE — The effects weren’t immediate, but it turns out that Arkansas basketball’s loss to Tennessee in the SEC opener was a wake-up call that proved vital to the Razorbacks’ upset victory over St. John’s Saturday.

Tenth-seeded Arkansas knocked off Rick Pitino and the second-seeded Red Storm 75-66 in the second round of the men’s NCAA Tournament despite allowing 28 offensive rebounds. That’s the same number of offensive boards Tennessee gobbled up in a 24-point blowout on Jan. 4.

Eleven weeks ago, that dismantling on the glass broke the Hogs’ souls in a road defeat. In March Madness, Arkansas fought back instead of folding, leaning on the lessons from that embarrassing loss in Knoxville, Tennessee to set up a date with No. 3 Texas Tech in the Sweet 16 Thursday.

“I tried to explain to them how it would be and they didn’t listen, so we went into that game and got absolutely shellacked,” John Calipari said.

“But I was able to tell them, if you don’t become more physical, if you don’t do this together, you’re going to take a lot of these. And we did. We took some early.”

How did Arkansas overcome all of St. John’s second-chance opportunities? The Razorbacks simply matched the aggression.

More: Arkansas basketball vs Texas Tech prediction: Who has edge in 2025 NCAA Tournament second round?

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In the loss to Tennessee, Arkansas grabbed nine offensive rebounds and lost the overall margin 51-29. The Razorbacks settled for too many 3-pointers and didn’t earn enough trips to the free-throw line.

Against St. John’s, the Hogs rose their output to 16 offensive rebounds and trimmed the overall deficit to 51-46.

That uptick allowed Arkansas to score 18 second-chance points, and the Hogs…

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Publish date : 2025-03-24 08:01:00

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