Arkansas basketball was trending for all the right reasons Friday night, but John Calipari is staying away from the rat poison despite an impressive 85-69 exhibition win over No. 1 Kansas.
The Razorbacks looked the part of the better team from start to finish, leading by as many as 20 points in a second half where the margin never reached single digits.
Was Calipari pleased? Sure, why wouldn’t he be? But he was going to take the results of Friday’s festivities in Fayetteville with a grain of salt regardless.
“Look, they had two of their better players out,” he said. “So let’s, you know, let’s not do, like, triple backflips.”
Calipari’s point is valid as Kansas was without All-American big man Hunter Dickinson and Alabama transfer sharpshooter Rylan Griffen. On the flip side, though, the Razorbacks were missing Tennessee transfer and All-SEC center Jonas Aidoo themselves.
Boogie Fland and DJ Wagner combined for 46 points in a backcourt that profiles as lethal when FAU transfer Johnell Davis — who finished with just five points on 2 of 9 shooting — returns to full health.
Kansas coach Bill Self called the group “the best trio of guards we play against this year” and double-down with his praise later saying this Arkansas team is “better than some of the ones (Calipari) had at Kentucky.
When asked about the remarks during his postgame presser, Calipari pumped the brakes, which is in line with his consistent message of preaching patience with the process for the Hoop Hogs.
“Very early to make that statement. Very early to make that statement,” he said. “Yeah, I had these teams (raises hand high) and then I had some teams in the middle and I had all of it. Where will this thing play out?
“All I know is, when you have really good guards, you usually have a really good team. But we also have a 7-2, we have an all-conference in Jonas, you’ve got Adou (Thiero). I mean, we’ve got some guys.
“The normal comment is ‘How are you getting all these really good players to play together?’ You demand it. You demand a lot, you get a lot. If you accept mediocrity, that’s what you’re going to get every time. If you demand it, we’re going to do this together.”
Arkansas will have a final dress rehearsal next Friday when it travels to Fort Worth (Texas) for a charity exhibition against TCU. Tipoff between the Razorbacks and Horned Frogs is set for 7 p.m. (CT) at Dickies Arena.