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Coach Cal Defends Controversial NCAA Tournament Game Decision

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Mar 30, 2025 2:04 PM ET

John Calipari watched Arkansas' NCAA tournament run end in gut-wrenching fashion Thursday night.

Up by 13 with less than five minutes remaining, the Razorbacks squandered a chance to advance to the Elite Eight. Texas Tech closed the second half on a 16-3 run before leaving San Francisco with an 85-82 overtime victory.

During overtime's final seconds, Darrion Williams broke the stalemate by hitting a game-winning bucket. Calipari declined to use his final timeout, instead letting his offense go the entire length of the court with 7.3 ticks remaining. DJ Wagner held the ball and missed a contested heave at the buzzer.

After the game, Calipari explained why he chose not to call a timeout.

"In my career, I let that go. Let the guy get to the rim," Calipari said. "They're not going to foul you. With that kind of time, just me. You call a timeout, now you've got to worry about what he's doing, how he's playing, the inbound, what are you doing. So I usually let that go."

Calipari views his decision differently in hindsight.

"Because it ended the way it did, yeah, I wish I would have called a timeout," Calipari continued. "But 99 percent of the time, I let that go. Because now I know what they're doing, they know what we're doing. That's why we did it."

The lowest seed in the Sweet 16, Arkansas advanced by defeating Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks and Rick Pitino's St. John's Red Storm. The Razorbacks led by as many as 16 on Thursday night, making 10 of 25 threes after two rough March Madness shooting performances.

However, the wheels unraveled down the stretch. The No. 3 Red Raiders pulled off a furious comeback to end Coach Cal's Cinderella run, but the roles reversed when Texas Tech's late lead evaporated in Saturday's 84-79 loss to top-seeded Florida.

Meanwhile, Calipari still commended his team following Thursday's crushing defeat.

"We're all disappointed here," Calipari said. "But I told them, there's nothing them individually or my team could do to disappoint me because of what they've done this year. I'm so proud of them."

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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