John Calipari gets the last laugh. Arkansas upsets Kentucky in coach’s return to Rupp
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Game day: Arkansas 89, No. 12 Kentucky 79
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Arkansas in Rupp Arena.
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John Calipari walked onto the Rupp Arena court with a smile on his face Saturday night.
He was greeted with hearty boos from many of the Kentucky basketball fans in attendance. The former head coach of the Wildcats got the last laugh.
Arkansas upset the 12th-ranked Cats 89-79 in Calipari’s return to Lexington, where he spent the past 15 seasons as head coach before leaving last April to take over the Razorbacks.
Calipari stepped onto the court with a smile and a comically bemused look on his face — one eyebrow raised high as he walked out of the visiting tunnel — and his arrival was met with boos from a Rupp Arena crowd that had filled in for more than 30 minutes in anticipation of the 9 p.m. EST start. Some UK students camped out overnight, and their line to get into the building was so congested that they were allowed to enter about an hour before the normal time.
Some UK fans in the crowd clapped for Calipari, who led the Cats to four Final Four appearances and the 2012 national title before leaving for Arkansas, but the boos overwhelmed the sound of that applause.
Calipari and Kentucky’s new coach, Mark Pope, shook hands and embraced at midcourt, and the former leader of the Wildcats was booed again when he was officially introduced following the announcement of the Arkansas starters.
The Razorbacks — a group that includes former UK players Adou Thiero, D.J. Wagner and Zvonimir Ivisic — were booed whenever they touched the ball in the opening minutes of the game, but the visitors held their own with the heavily favored Wildcats.
And then they took control of the game.
Arkansas led 46-45 at halftime, and the Razorbacks upped that advantage to 55-47 in the opening minutes of the second half, prompting Pope to call a timeout with 16:39 left. Ivisic hit a corner 3-pointer out of that stoppage to put Arkansas ahead 58-47, and — after UK narrowed the deficit to six points — the Hogs went on another run, punctuated by a fast-break dunk from former Kentucky recruit Karter Knox, who put his team up 67-56 with the slam.
That led to another timeout from Pope with 13:02 remaining on the clock.
UK scored the first basket out of that break, but Arkansas extended its lead to 12 points and kept offering up answers for each of the Wildcats’ comeback attempts.
With the Razorbacks leading 87-75 and just 1:06 left in the game, a skirmish near the Arkansas bench led to the two teams needing to be separated and resulted in a delay while the officials watched a video review. By that point, there was little doubt regarding the outcome, and some UK fans had already headed for the exits.
Thiero led Arkansas with 21 points and added eight rebounds. Wagner had 17 points and a season-high eight assists. Ivisic scored 14 points and hit four 3-pointers. The Hogs, who shot 24.8% over their previous seven SEC games, were 13-for-25 from deep against the Cats. They had not scored more than 74 points in an SEC game this season.
Amari Williams led UK with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Jaxson Robinson added 20 points.
Kentucky was playing shorthanded again, with both of its veteran point guards — Lamont Butler and Kerr Kriisa — sidelined due to injuries. Starting forward Andrew Carr, who had missed time with an injured back, was cleared to play but came off the bench and played limited minutes against the Razorbacks.
Arkansas was without McDonald’s All-American guard Boogie Fland, who was one of the team’s best players in the early going before suffering what is expected to be a season-ending injury.
The two programs had been on divergent paths after both began their 2024-25 schedules in the AP Top 25 preseason poll. Arkansas, which started the season ranked No. 16 nationally, is now 13-8 overall and 2-6 in the SEC with the win Saturday night. The Razorbacks’ only previous win in the conference came at home against Georgia.
The Wildcats, who were No. 23 in the preseason poll, are now 15-6 with a 4-4 record in the league. UK came into the game ranked No. 12 in the country after spending the previous 10 weeks inside the top 10, and the Cats beat No. 8 Tennessee in Knoxville on Tuesday night.
Kentucky will go back on the road to start next week with a trip to Oxford for a game against the Ole Miss Rebels on Tuesday night (7 p.m. EST on ESPN).
Coach Chris Beard’s team is 16-6 and 5-4 in the SEC this season, but the Rebels have now lost four of their last five games, the most recent one a 92-82 home defeat at the hands of No. 1 Auburn on Saturday afternoon.
All of Ole Miss’ losses in that stretch have come against teams currently ranked in the AP top 20, and the Rebels pulled off one of the biggest wins of anyone in league play so far with a 74-64 victory at No. 4 Alabama on Jan. 14.
This story was originally published February 1, 2025 at 11:16 PM.
