Copyright Arkansas Online
Your browser does not support the audio element. EAST LANSING, Mich. -- University of Arkansas men's basketball Coach John Calipari didn't look forward to watching tape of Saturday's 69-66 loss at No. 22 Michigan State. "I was trying to space the court and do some things and then I said, 'Screw it, grind with them,' " Calipari said. " 'That's the only way. They're going to grind us for 30 seconds, we're going to shoot in seven? You're going to get buried.' We started, but we haven't done that as much. But as the season goes on, there are points in the game you're just grinding. Let's go." The Razorbacks made one of their last seven shots and didn't make a field goal in the final 2:43; the Spartans made none over the last 6:02. Arkansas went on additional stretches of 3:56 and 3:31 between baskets during the second half. Both sides combined to shoot 47 for 117 (40.1%) from the floor. "I was stunned we were up three (39-36) at half," Calipari said. "There were just two or three stretches that we could not get a basket, make a play. ... This was enjoyable. I'm glad that we came up here. You want to win every game. At this time of the year, you win or you learn. We learned. We learned about each other. Guys got to take responsibility, hold themselves accountable. That's hard." Arkansas starting frontcourt of sixth-year senior Nick Pringle and redshirt Trevon Brazile totaled 9 fouls, 9 points on 3-of-7 shooting and 9 rebounds. Freshman forward Cam Ward scored 18 points alone for the Spartans. Pringle blocked three shots and grabbed one of his four offensive rebounds after a missed three-pointer by freshman Meleek Thomas with the Hogs losing 69-66 with 23 seconds left. Thomas got the ball back then missed a jumper. Freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. also missed a game-tying three-pointer with seven seconds left. Thomas and Acuff shot a combined 10 for 31 (32.2%) from the field and 4 for 17 from three-point range. Acuff initially wasn't phased by the physicality of opposing point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., though he missed his last five shots. " 'I appreciate the fact that you had the courage to shoot that again,' " Calipari recalled saying to Thomas. "But I also told him, 'You got it back and D.J. Wagner was wide open. Throw him the ball.' He may say, 'Well, I'm a better shooter than him,' but you've got to trust your teammates. ... Told them after the game, 'There's things you did, you're not playing, playing that way. Not for me.' " Wagner scored 13 points, while Thomas and Acuff each tallied a team-high 16. Wagner made his last shot, a three-pointer with 6:55 left in the game. Karter Knox, who was sidelined with a toe sprain in Arkansas' 109-77 season-opening win Nov. 3 against Southern, logged 18 minutes in his season debut. The sophomore shot 0 for 1, with 4 assists and 4 turnovers. Calipari credited his freshmen Saturday for handling a physical, 99-75 exhibition win Oct. 27 at Memphis. Calipari likened a "hard" Memphis game to Michigan State, with its abundance of cutting and screening, and noted exhausted players can lose their shots. "But I love them both," he said. "They're going to be fine." While Memphis was a lively environment for Calipari's return to a coaching post he held from 2000-09, the Breslin Center's crowd took it up a notch Saturday. The arena's seating puts a clamoring student section in the lowest wraparound layer. Acuff won a high school state title in the building. "A great environment, honestly," Pringle said. "I feel like (the freshmen) handled it well, they still stayed in the game. It's still a learning moment. Both got to have some growth. The whole team, though. It's just one game. We don't want to determine those guys are us off of one game. It's early. It's Nov. 8. So, we want to just take a step forward." Arkansas' game against Michigan State began its run of playing every team that advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last year. The next instance is Nov. 27 against No. 6 Duke in Chicago. The Razorbacks return home to host Central Arkansas at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Matt Byrne is the Bob Holt Razorback Reporter, named in honor of the longtime reporter who covered University of Arkansas sports. This position is funded by the ADG Community Journalism Project.
