Arkansas is back in the Sweet Sixteen after a wild, physical 75-66 win over Big East champion St. John’s. John Calipari is now 9-2 in his last 11 games against his old rival.
Watching this game, I was impressed that Rick Pitino got this group of players to 30 wins. They are not, to put it nicely, technically skilled. Watching them is like watching a different sport. What they lack in actual basketball skill they make up for in raw aggression.
That makes this win more impressive, not less, because of how it went down. Calipari offenses tend to thrive in smooth, controlled, free-flowing games, and this one was anything but. The two teams were whistled for a combined 44 personal fouls, and Arkansas’ two centers combined to commit nine personal fouls in 31 total minutes. The Razorbacks played nine minutes with no center due to foul trouble.
But St. John’s doesn’t see players like Jonas Aidoo, Trevon Brazile, Karter Knox, and Billy Richmond III in the Big East. That conference lacks athletic forwards, and Arkansas’ athletic forwards were just too much for the Red Storm to handle. The Hogs cracked the Johnnies’ elite defensive rebounding with 16 offensive boards and elite paint defense with 46 points in the paint; both are the most St. John’s has allowed all year. And they held St. John’s to under 50% shooting in the paint area.
Let’s quickly review some of the best stats from this absolute rockfight:
- Combined 4 of 41 from beyond the arc, the worst single 3-point shooting display in NCAA Tournament history
- 44 combined offensive rebounds
- 44 combined personal fouls
- Only 15 combined assists on 48 made field goals
- Combined 20 blocks plus steals
- Combined 60% of total points were scored in the paint, and 88% of total points were scored in paint plus free throws
What a game.
Win-win-win(-LA)
Arkansas, Kentucky, and BYU – three programs who combined for zero NCAA Tournament wins last year – are all in the Sweet Sixteen with new coaches. It’s probably time to say that this was a win-win-win for all programs involved in the shuffle of coaches that started when Arkansas stunningly hired Calipari away from Kentucky. Arkansas got a proven winner and an immediate resurgence in the program. Kentucky got an alum who runs a fun scheme and has a legitimate love for the program. And BYU got a guy who got the boosters and big-money donors onboard.
As for Eric Musselman… well, he’s in Los Angeles, where he wanted to be. Is he enjoying it? Well, probably not, as his first USC team (filled with players he was trying to sign at Arkansas) went 16-17. But that’s what he wanted, so good for him.
- Box Score Breakdown: Arkansas 75, St. John’s 66
- Matchup Analysis: 2 St. John’s
- Box Score Breakdown: Arkansas 79, Kansas 72
Advanced stats
This game featured a little less back-and-forth, as Arkansas led most of the way, holding a maximum lead of 13 points and an average lead of 4.4 points over the course of the game (compared to 2.3 against Kansas).
The Hogs totaled an efficiency of 107.1 against the 2nd-ranked defense in college basketball, which is insanely impressive.
St. John’s had major issues trying to score in halfcourt, so they attempted to force some transition possessions, which didn’t work out well. They scored on only half of them. Arkansas was much more patient on offense, totaling just 10 transition possessions, but scoring on seven of them for 15 points.
Arkansas getting 60 points in 60 possessions (100 efficiency) against the top-ranked halfcourt defense in all of college basketball was really good. St. John’s actually did fine here, scoring on 49% of halfcourt possessions, but a lack of 3-pointers left them with a subpar 91.5 efficiency.
This, folks, is a rockfight. St. John’s created 131.9 shots per 100 possessions by rebounding half of their misses, which equaled 28 offensive rebounds in raw stats. The Hogs were no slouch, either, grabbing 40% of their own misses (about 30-33% is average). The Hogs missed fewer shots and thus had fewer opportunities, so that equals “only” 16 offensive boards. A combined 44 offensive rebounds and neither team cracking even 20% assist rate tells you what kind of game this was. Both teams worked almost exclusively off putbacks and isolations, creating an absolute war in the paint.
How’d the paint fight go?
Against Kansas, points in the paint were our biggest key, and as we discussed after the game, a six-point in the paint led to a seven-point win on the scoreboard.
This time? Same result: an eight-point win in the paint led to a nine-point win. Arkansas’ 46 points in the paint were the most allowed by St. John’s this year. The Hogs exploited the Red Storm defense off the dribble like no team in the Big East was able to, while the Razorbacks’ length and athleticism allowed the Hogs to record 16 offensive boards against the country’s 7th-ranked defensive rebounding unit.
Both teams took more than half their shots in the paint. St. John’s shot a dismal 44% in the paint, while Arkansas shot 56%. Ballgame. The Red Storm finished 2 of 32 on field goal attempts outside the paint (2 of 21 from 3, 0 of 10 from midrange). Overall, St. John’s had an effective field goal percentage of just 29%, which is incredibly bad.
Lots jumps out here. First, Jonas Aidoo was plus-15 in his 21 minutes, so the Hogs were outscored by six in the 19 minutes he sat on the bench with foul trouble. Four of those can be pinned on Zvonimir Ivisic, who fouled out in 10 minutes and was minus-4.
But check out the freshmen! Karter Knox had a game-high 15.2 game score (15 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4 blocks), while Billy Richmond III was close behind. Knox was plus-9. Richmond was at zero, as he had little role in building the initial lead that swelled to 13 but played really well as the Hogs were holding on late.
It was a one-man show for St. John’s, as Kadary Richmond and RJ Luis were unable to join Zuby Ejiofor as the trio that dominated the Big East.
One of the big narratives in the postgame was Pitino benching Luis with 4:56 left and never putting him back in. He was 3 of 17 from the floor. That’s the Big East Player of the Year and a second-team all-American. Not giving your best player a shot in a critical moment is a fascinating coaching decision, but it was one that Pitino has repeatedly made in his career. As SI’s Pat Forde pointed out in his excellent postgame column, Pitino famously benched star freshman Rodrick Rhodes after he missed game-winning free throws at the end of regulation in the 1995 SEC Tournament against… Arkansas. Rhodes, Kentucky’s second-leading scorer, didn’t play a second of overtime as Kentucky earned an improbable win. Pitino then benched Rhodes again in the Elite Eight loss to North Carolina a few weeks later, leading to Rhodes transferring out of Lexington.
Of course, Luis was plus-5 in his 30 minutes, and the Hogs outscored the Red Storm 9-2 after Luis exited for the final time. And to highlight the vast differences between Pitino and Calipari, DJ Wagner was just 3 of 15 from the field, but, as it has for two years, Calipari’s confidence in his point guard did not waver. Wagner’s 16th field goal attempt was a layup that gave Arkansas a two-score lead for good, 70-66.
Up next
Arkansas faces Texas Tech in the Sweet Sixteen next Thursday. This one will not be easy. Our says the Red Raiders are the 7th-best team in the country, paced by the 5th-best offense. Loads of analysts had them as a dark horse Final Four contender. Led by a pair of elite forwards, Arkansas probably doesn’t stand much of a chance if Adou Thiero can’t go. Then again, this team has continually proven all its doubters wrong, so we’ll see.