John Calipari got the two exhibition wins he wanted. He’s still not convinced Arkansas used them the right way.
The Razorbacks coach said as much after Wednesday’s 93-81 win over Memphis.
“I’m hoping we did this right,” Calipari said when asked about the two tune-ups.
Don’t think he’s questioning himself because his career doesn’t have room for a lot of doing that later. His plan was to schedule two solid teams for exhibitions and see what is broken.
“We did it on purpose to get us two close enough games to know we could fix and work, and then we start our season,” he said.
The schedule of what’s coming is bugging him, though.
“We got eight games and four of them, I believe, are top 10, top 12,” Calipari said. “Four of the eight, and none of them in this building, they’re all going to be on the road.”
Few breathers before Christmas
Three of those opponents are ranked in the Top 10 right now.
The first is No. 9 Virginia. Arkansas plays the Cavaliers in Washington next weekend, and ESPN has the broadcast.
Sixth-ranked Michigan State gets the Hogs on Thanksgiving Day. No. 5 Arizona is up on Dec. 19.
The Razorbacks also see Indiana on Nov. 17 and North Carolina on Dec. 1.
SEC play starts after that. Nobody in that league gives away wins on a regular basis.
Arkansas is taking all of this on with eight freshmen. Just one guy on the roster played real minutes a year ago.
What the Memphis win showed
Memphis jumped out early on Wednesday. Arkansas climbed out of that hole.
The Razorbacks hit 54.7% of their shots from the field and committed only nine turnovers.
That’s a step forward from the Gonzaga game. In that one, the Hogs coughed it up 10 times before halftime.
Arkansas’ hands stayed busy on defense. The Tigers had 15 turnovers, and 14 came on steals. Those steals turned into 26 points.
The 3-point shooting went the other way. Arkansas made 11 of 24 against Gonzaga but just 6 of 20 against Memphis.
Calipari saw problems on defense too. He pinned one of them on himself.
Calipari owns the trap
“We needed games like this,” Calipari said. “I look at it and say some of the stuff, mentally, 1-on-1 defense, grinding it, we tried to help bad rotations.
“Part of it was we were trapping in a way we had not trapped before and I probably should have known that was a mistake. I did it and it was my call.”
The free throw line is another sore spot. Arkansas has barely made half its foul shots through two exhibitions.
Calipari sounded tired of talking about it.
“Again, free throw shooting – come on now,” he said. “When you watch that and there is four minutes left in a close game can you tell me the three you would absolutely not have in? They’ll dictate that.”
Every level of the game sees it as a big deal from junior high to the highest levels of the NBA. It’s one of those things coaches keep harping on, though.
His point is pretty clear. Miss them now and you might sit late in close games.
“You have got to have ‘look, late in the game I’m making free throws’,” Calipari said.
UAPB first, then Virginia
UAPB visits Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday for the 2026-27 opener.
The game starts at 7 p.m. on SEC Network+.
It’s one more shot to clean things up before the trip to Virginia.
Calipari built this preseason on purpose. By Thanksgiving, he’ll know if it worked.
