John Calipari's latest March Madness meltdown may be most disappointing yet

At the end of a deflating 85-83 overtime loss to Texas Tech in Thursday night's West regional semifinals, John Calipari displayed little emotion as he walked toward the opposing bench with his hand outstretched.

“Good win,” he told Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland.

It was undeniably a spirited comeback by Texas Tech. It was also undeniably an inexcusable collapse from Arkansas.

For 35-plus minutes, the 10th-seeded Razorbacks were in control. For 35-plus minutes, they looked like the top-three seed. Texas Tech struggled to generate clean looks at the rim driving into a thicket of long, athletic interior defenders, nor could the Red Raiders consistently knock down perimeter jumpers. Arkansas led by 13 points with less than 4½ minutes to go. The Razorbacks appeared headed for an improbable Elite Eight.

When Arkansas reflects on what went wrong from then on, there won’t be just one person to blame. A hail of rushed shots, questionable decisions and mental mistakes were the difference between the Razorbacks flying home on Friday or preparing to play Florida with a spot in the Final Four at stake.

Texas Tech’s comeback began innocuously with a 3-pointer from Christian Anderson, the Red Raiders’ best 3-point shooter with Chance McMillian still sidelined by a painful oblique injury. Jonas Aidoo gave Anderson a sliver too much space with his ball-screen defense, but that was understandable considering Anderson had been ice-cold prior to that from behind the arc.

Arkansas’ mistakes that followed were more egregious. There was a careless turnover by Billy Richmond that led to a Texas Tech basket. There was an ill-advised quick 3-point attempt after an offensive rebound by D.J. Wagner, a 30.5% shooter from behind the arc. And there was Johnell Davis momentarily falling asleep after securing a defensive rebound with Arkansas up six and 1:15 to go, enabling the Red Raiders to gain a tie-up and possession in a spot where they should have had to foul.

That all culminated in Texas Tech gaining a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer on its final possession of regulation. At first, it seemed Anderson had found a matchup he liked against Davis, but he turned down a step-back 3-pointer and fed Darrion Williams spotted up well behind the arc on the right wing. Williams had missed eight of his first nine 3-pointers, but this time he made Karter Knox pay for giving him too much space, tying the game at 72 with 9.7 seconds to play.

“A kid who was 1-for-9 makes it and it was contested,” Calipari said. “I mean, sometimes that stuff is stuff that happens in these games.”

Twice Calipari gave Wagner the chance to save Arkansas, once with the score tied at the end of regulation and a second time down two in the final seconds of overtime.

The first time, Wagner got downhill but Elijah Hawkins held up well defending on an island.

“He made a hard bump on DJ that got him off balance on the shot,” Calipari insisted, “but it was [the matchup] we wanted.”

The second time, Wagner again went at Hawkins but only managed a step-back jumper that was well off the mark.

Calipari defended not using a timeout because that would have allowed Texas Tech to set its defense, but conceded, “Now because it ended the way it did, yeah, I wish I called a timeout.”

That the ball was in the hands of Wagner both times is the decision of Calipari’s that will likely be second-guessed the most. After all, it was Davis who had a season-high 30 points on Thursday and who consistently showed an ability to get to the basket or draw a foul.

While the last four-plus minutes of Thursday’s game will leave a bitter aftertaste, Calipari deserves a ton of credit for getting Arkansas this far. The Razorbacks’ season appeared to be spiraling when they dropped their first five SEC games to tumble out of NCAA tournament projections and prized freshman Boogie Fland suffered a hand injury that would keep him out the rest of the regular season.

As Calipari has done well throughout his career, he managed to instill belief in the face of adversity and keep Arkansas working as team. Davis got healthier and provided the offensive firepower the Razorbacks needed. Jonas Aidoo earned playing time and offered another rim protector. Calipari got key contributions up and down his roster as his team not only earned an NCAA tournament bid but also toppled Kansas and St. John’s to advance to the Sweet 16.

For days, America poked fun at the notion of Arkansas as Cinderella, that the closest thing to an underdog story in this heavyweight Sweet 16 was an SEC school teeming with top recruits and coached by Calipari

The slipper fit. And then it didn’t.

A joyride came to an abrupt end, leaving Calipari feeling mixed emotions.

“I told them how proud I was of them and that there’s nothing they could do to disappoint me,” Calipari said. “Yeah, there were plays I wish they had done different, but these kids gave everything.”