"Games aren't easy": John Calipari's wife Ellen and daughter Megan show off their grins after Arkansas defeats Rick Pitino's St. John's
Arkansas coach John Calipari had his wife, Ellen, and daughter, Megan, in the stands cheering him as his Razorbacks booked their Sweet 16 berth after defeating St. John's 75-66 on Saturday.
The game was a close call at one point in the first half and cameras caught a distressed Megan and Ellen Calipari. However, on Sunday, Megan shared a smiling selfie with her mother via her Instagram story, writing:
"We are ok now."
Ellen Calipari reposted it to her Instagram story and added:
"😂Very ok! Games aren't easy!😅"
Arkansas started the game strong and was even leading 22-14. However, right after this, the Red Strom caught up, and the scores shifted to the Razorbacks trailing 31-28. The halftime break gave John Calipari the time to regroup his team, who took off in the second half.
Despite the efforts from St. John's, they were just not enough as Billy Richmond III shined for Arkansas. He finished with a team-high 16 points and nine rebounds. Karter Knox was next with 15 points, six rebounds and four blocks.
John Calipari scales back to the top with his freshman standouts
With Arkansas advancing past the second round, the moment was important for John Calipari. In his previous two seasons at Kentucky, the Wildcats exited March Madness within the first two rounds and Calipari earned much criticism.
However, with the Razorbacks now in Sweet 16, it looks like the coach is finally breaking from his postseason curse. One thing left unchanged in Calipari's strategy over the years is the excellent performances from his freshman. Karter Knox, Billy Richmond III and Boogie Fland earned a special shoutout from the coach during the postgame presser.
"Well, they're not afraid, and they want to prove themselves," Calipari said. "Billy just has a different mindset, like, 'If I turn it over, so what?' He goes on to the next play. Karter and Boogie are still freshmen. They miss two, they end up missing five, you know what I'm saying?
"They're fun to coach ... I told them many times, 'You're never going to disappoint me, just go play, we'll figure stuff out.'"
With the win, No. 10 seed Arkansas will next take on No. 3 seed Texas Tech on Thursday. John Calipari last won the NCAA championship in 2012 with the Kentucky Wildcats.