After a very poor start to the season, Arkansas basketball has collected itself admirably and started to play some pretty good basketball in the best conference in college hoops. On Wednesday night, John Calipari and the Razorbacks faced arguably their toughest test yet on the road against No. 1-ranked Auburn.
Arkansas wasn’t fazed by playing against the best team in the nation, as it threw haymakers back and forth with Bruce Pearl’s Tigers all night long. Auburn looked like it was about to pull away multiple times, but Arkansas continued to fight back.
Calipari’s crew even took a 58-57 lead on a Johnell Davis layup with just over three minutes remaining. However, Auburn closed the game on a 10-2 run from there to come away with a hard-fought 67-60 win. After the game, Calipari had a blunt response when talking about the late collapse, via Nathan King of 247 Sports.
“That’s why they’re the No. 1 team, and that’s why we have the record we have,” Calipari said, per King.
Arkansas still played some good basketball in this game, but some execution errors down the stretch cost it. Specifically on the offensive end, the Razorbacks were unable to get anything going against a very good Auburn defense in the half court.
Arkansas needs a big win to get into NCAA Tournament
Arkansas is about as bubbly as it gets heading into the final few games of the regular season, so there is a lot of pressure on John Calipari and company to get a big win down the stretch if it wants to make the final bracket.
The Razorbacks will benefit from playing a very strong strength of schedule in the SEC, and they have some nice wins against teams like Kentucky and Michigan this season. However, they have narrowly missed out on the kind of win that can truly change your resume, and they did once again on Wednesday night.
Arkansas is out of opportunities to get wins against the best of the best in the SEC, but it still has two chances to get quality wins at home against Missouri and Mississippi State. If it can get one or both of those games, Calipari and company will show up to the SEC Tournament with a chance to play their way into the field.
If this Arkansas team does get into the Big Dance, nobody will want to see it in the first few rounds. This group struggled a ton at the beginning of the season, but it is still very talented and Calipari has his players playing their best basketball of the season at the right time.
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