Saturday’s matchup between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the St. John’s Red Storm in ‘The Region of Coaches’ was a battle between two acquaintances… two acquaintances who first met 43 years ago today as Rick Pitino pushed for John Calipari to take the spot in his alma mater, UMass. Just three years down the line from there, the two would go head-to-head in their very first matchup which Pitino would win. Fast forward to Saturday, they met for the 24th time. Saturday was true March Madness.

An underdog Calipari took the lead from Pitino in a hard-fought 75-66 game. St. John’s went into Saturday’s game as heavy favorites, holding a 71.3%-win probability per On3 in its favor. But Calipari & Co. came with an answer for every move. “I know St. John’s is physical. But we’re physical, too,” he said. The No.1 defensive team in the country struggled to hang on with the largest lead of only 4 points as the Razorbacks matched strides. They could only make one of their final nine shots–Zuby Ejiofor’s dunk with 20 seconds left.

And the defense overall? There were a combined 96 rebounds, with both teams grappling for shots and second chances. Neither made more than two 3-pointers on 41 attempts. But where Arkansas capitalized on field goals at 27-63, St. John’s fell short with 21-75. If the numbers indicate anything, the game was as physical as it could get. In 15 TOs total, Arkansas led with 9. And the equal number of steals (5) and Arkansas again led in blocks with 7 compared to just 3 of St. John’s. Trailing only for a little under four minutes, the Hogs pulled up for Calipari’s 16th visit to the Sweet 16 where they will play the third-seed Texas Tech. It was fire with both teams fighting neck-in-neck but the spotlight shifted to another aspect of the sport: Officiating. Here are some facts for you to consider.

• In the 40 minutes, there were 44 total fouls called. As a result, Calipari’s squad got 27 free throw attempts which they completed only 70.4% while St. John’s received went for 22 of 31 points. Physicality reigned, whistles took over, and by the final 5 minutes, 3 players across both teams had 4 fouls. But one that took notice from everyone was the flagrant 1 on Trevon Brazile.
• With 6:10 minutes left in the first half, Deivon Smith went for an open three-pointer. With his miss, both Brazile and Ejiofor reached for the rebound with the Arkansas forward shoving the No. 24 away and into the hardwood. First termed as a common foul, but upon review, the referees upgraded it to a flagrant-1, qualifying it due to an excessive and/or unnecessary contact from Brazile to Ejiofor’s head and neck. The call was especially crucial since the Red Storm tied the game within two plays down the road.
• Zvonimir Ivisic, the Razorbacks’ stretch 5, was fouled out of the game with a little under 12 minutes remaining and a close score of 35-32. On top of that, Arkansas’ Jonas Aidoo and St. John’s Kadary Richmond each had 4 fouls. No wonder, John Calipari was getting visibly heated with the officials.

For some, these snubs would not matter in the end. After all, John Calipari’s team did secure the win! However, it still did not stop the NCAA community from highlighting their displeasure.

NCAA fans and CBS analysts criticized referees and cheered for Calipari’s win

Many were not happy with how the game for ages, at least for the coaches involved, was being called. In fact, during the game, CBS color analyst Steve Lappas could be heard disagreeing with a whistle, “I’ll tell you, Ejiofor has to be really, really careful now. Wow. In this kind of game, I’m sorry — that’s not a good call.” Then, in an Arkansas’ attempt from beyond the arc, Ejiofor was whistled for a foul for battling the Razorbacks’ Jonas Aidoo. Safe to say, the officiating crew got a target on its back yesterday.

One social media user wrote, “This officiating is absolutely putrid.” Well, one would certainly feel things to be that way when they tuned in to watch an exciting game but instead got the whistleblowing a total of 44 times.

“That Arkansas St. John’s officiating was atrocious. Game was over officiated given how physical game was expected to be,” came another comment. A No.1 defensive team on one side, a team known for size and athleticism on another, it was projected to be a physical game from the get-go. Pitino had predicted the threat early on, saying, “Athleticism-wise, we have not seen this this year.” It was a game of rivalry and high stakes and the officiating just wasn’t in accordance. But while a few viewed this from a bird’s view, others couldn’t help but pick officiating bias.

One individual wrote, “If your non biased watching this st John’s game with Arkansas this has to be the worst one-sided officiating game I’ve ever seen ridiculous  to watch the NCAA tournament gotta do better than this all the calls are going against Arkansas.”

Well, the calls stood 20-24 in favor of St. John’s– little difference. They also got more free throws (31) than Arkansas’ (27). But the calls weren’t always fair and as highlighted by Sportswriter Andrew Hutchinson, the Arkansas head coach was not happy during certain moments in the game. One X user commented, “Calipari has the right to be pissed. Arkansas isn’t getting the same whistle as St. John’s right now, making it impossible to match physicality. Frustrating.”

Calipari allegedly received some lack of respect from the referees. However, it would be nice knowing that the fans at least had his back. One social media user added to those messages of support by writing “Incredible. Adversity. Officiating. Hostile environment.  Razorbacks responded with punch after punch after punch. So much grit and toughness. GIVE JOHN CALIPARI HIS FLOWERS.”

Well, indeed. Only weeks ago, was he being asked to retire as the Razorbacks fell as a bubble team. But with an injury-ridden roster back to strength, Calipari showed what he was capable of. One fan also wrote in favor of Calipari’s win, “Unfollow me are whatever. But I could not be more happy for John Calipari. This man just overcame so much hate and doubt. All while UK invited back Pitino. And he just beat Rick with his best player out. What a revenge tour for Ole John!! Congrats.”

No doubt, John had to go through a lot in the last few seasons at Kentucky. Moving to Arkansas also did not entirely help as with every defeat, he would get called out for not being good enough anymore. But he stayed with his team, proving along the way that sometimes old habits can be beneficial. In the postgame presser, Calipari was all praises for his team, “I told them, ‘This is as rewarding as a year I’ve had, based on how far we’ve come.’”

There was certainly no lack of supporters for the first-year HC in Fayetteville as one person wrote, “Razorback fan here and it’s an honor to have Calipari leading the Hogs. Been a hell of a year. I mean, it always is with Arkansas 😂 but man, it sure is nice having a hall of fame coach on the sideline this time.”

The Razorbacks went 4-1 in its last 5 games of the regular season and defeated two coaches who share a combined win count of 1700 and 4 national titles in 48 hours of the NCAA tourney. Odds were stacked against him time and again, but he has managed to come this far for the first time since 2019. Officiating wrongs or not, Calipari has his army and he his marching ahead unfazed.