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John Calipari Uses One Word to Describe First Season With Arkansas After Win vs. Kansas

The Razorbacks were victorious on Thursday night in the NCAA tournament.

Tom Dierberger

Calipari led the Razorbacks to an NCAA tournament win on Thursday night.
Calipari led the Razorbacks to an NCAA tournament win on Thursday night. / Eric Canha-Imagn Images
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John Calipari has notched his first NCAA tournament win at Arkansas.

Calipari, who shocked the college hoops world last year when he left blue blood Kentucky for its SEC rival, steered the No. 10 seed Razorbacks to a 79–72 win over the No. 7 seed Kansas Jayhawks on Thursday in the first round of the 68-team tournament.

Following the game, Calipari was interviewed by CBS Sports reporter Evan Washburn, who was about to ask the coach how "refreshing" this year had been for him. The Arkansas coach corrected him with one word of his own to sum up the season so far.

"Rewarding," he said.

It was an up-and-down season for Calipari and the Razorbacks, who started 11–2 before losing five straight games to begin SEC play. Arkansas went on to win eight of its next 13 games to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament

"Each of them [Arkansas players], in their own way were in a dark place. The battle they had was with themselves. They had to get through that first. Then, they had to figure out they needed each other. And now, they're one heartbeat. Guys are doing what they have to do."

Arkansas, after ending Kansas's season for the second time in three years, now advances to the round of 32 where a matchup against either No. 2 seed St. John's or No. 15 seed Omaha awaits.

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Tom Dierberger
TOM DIERBERGER

Tom Dierberger is a staff writer and editor on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor's in communication from St. John's University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.

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