As he sat in front of reporters Friday night, John Calipari knew he needed to change something. His Arkansas basketball team had just spent much too long, and had to try much too hard, to finally put away a scrappy Samford squad over which it had been favored by 25 points.
Too often, the Razorbacks faltered defending the Bulldogs’ backdoor cuts. Their effort on the boards left a lot to be desired, too. Arkansas trotted out three players at 6-foot-10 against one of the 10 smallest teams in the country, according to KenPom, in its 79-75 win.