As Arkansas stood up from the ashes to make the most beautiful disturbance of the tournament

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Providence, Ri – John Calipari still has Magic Touch. This time, however, he came with “Woo Pig Sooie” shouted in the background.

“We thought our season is dead about 10 times this season,” one fan is expressed as Calipari finished his radio interview after playing at Court center. This fan was one of the many Arkansas believers who waited for their coach to end with his media responsibilities, and when the interview wrapped up and the headphones grew, it was a Razorbacks Party in Providence.

There were shots, there were waves in the crowd, and between Calipari and his wife Ellen and daughter, Megan, there was a Susan hug between Calipari and his wife Ellen.

The family was part of the six last four trips, the national title in 2012 and countless other moments, but to go through what they started from Lexington last year last year, starting from the year 0-5 in SEC and then the subject of crowds of criticism in the basketball world?

“We all last year,” Kalipari told Fox Sports. “And then you are 0-5 and then 1-6 in the SEC. They gave us two percent chances of making the NCAA tournament or two percent afterwards! And now, not only did we succeed, we progressed.”

They did it by the Calipari, giving their rival the taste of their own cure, because Razorbacks ended the season of Rick Pitino’s book in St. John’s win 75-66 over Red storm. You would think that the pigs owned a defense number 1 on Saturday in Providence, because the Calipari team held St. John’s up to a strong 28% shot from the floor and 2-o 2 22 outside the onion.

“Calipari (Calipari) told us there are two dogs and one bone – we wanted a bone, that’s so simple,” Arkansas Freshman forward Billy Richmond III said. “This group struggled with so much trouble, from 0-5 and long season to fall, but we found a way to gather. We found heartbeat.”

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Billy – not Kadary – Richmond made a difference in the game. The first year striker saved the best effect of his young college career for the biggest stage, scoring 16 points together with nine rebounds. His biggest shot of the game came with less than three minutes when he struck a dagger from the basic line to raise Razorbacks, 68-64. After the traffic of St. John, driving to a rim and a bucket of DJ Wagner He replaced him for pigs.

This proved to be the theme all afternoon for Razorbacks, who used their length and athletism to do something very little, if anyone did against St. John throughout the season: they surpassed them. After closing the first half at 7-0 running, Arkansas opened the second stanza with a ride 18-9, which included 16 color points and the other two points that came on the free throw line.

“We did not face that kind of length and athlete this year,” said Pitino, who fell to 10-14 at the college meetings against Kalipari. “That’s not why we lost the game. We lost the game because we didn’t move basketball enough, and that led to shoot a very low percentage. We are a team that has to get a large number of assists to win, and we’re not tonight.”

Pitin’s team looked separated from start to end, with Big East Player of the Year Rj luis Recording 3-o-17 from the field and mysteriously sat on the bench for the last 4:56 games. Pitino stated that it was because Luis played so many minutes and that he would not knock one of his players, but told the story of the nightmare in Providence after a regular fever season. Kadary Richmond threw out only five assists, and the Red Storm could not prevent Arkansas from penetrating dribbling the whole game.

“You know, everyone who played them (St. John’s) talked about how physically they were from the team,” Calipari said. “But I reminded my players before this game: and we are physically.”

It was just three years ago when Kalipari’s group in Kentucky lost to St. Peter as a number 2 seed. Just last year, his Wildcats fell to Oakland in the introductory circle of a large dance like 3 seeds. When coaching in a blue-Christian program like Kentucky, the reflectors are never muffled. But in Arkansas, he faded a little into the shadow, while Mark Pope took his duty to Kentucky and led his team to a big dance where Illinois would meet on Sunday on Sunday.

Now, moving from Lexington to Fayetteville because everyone feels worth it. Calipari and Kentucky were supposed to separate after last year and they succeeded. The idea that elsewhere can be overturned in sweet 16? It was difficult to visualize, as it was just two weeks ago, he said his Arkansas team “was thrown into a coffin, just forgot their nails.”

She is now out of the coffin, which is in San Francisco for one of the greats of sports.

“This is as useful for a year as I have come on how much we have arrived,” said Kalipari, who progressed to his 16th Sweet 16 and first as a double -digit seed with a victory. “What made him useful is that you want to win and make progress, but the biggest thing is what you want to see how children grow. And sometimes you have to go through the fire before you can see children grow.

“These kids, they went through a tone, but I’m happy for them.”

Playing the role of Underdog is not known by one calipper. But on Saturday, his Razorbacks accepted the role and denied the team of St. John, who played as good as everyone in the country, is the first trip to Sweet 16 since 1999. In Saturday’s showdown in the second round, St. John’s had four total losses in the season with a combined seven points. Razorbacks beat a red storm up to nine, and they did so by winning them in their own game.

The 66-year-old Calipari showed America that he had passed through the fire and ashes. Those tears on his family’s faces were spilled for much greater achievements than victory 32, but they reflected something different on Saturday night: the joy of reward after such a challenging change of life last spring and the reality of what was possible for the coach who buried the people in Fayetville in January, but brought hope in this March.

John Fanta is national basketball television and a Fox Sports writer. It covers the sport in various capacities, from the invitation of the games to the FS1 to serving as the leading host on the Big East Digital Network to provide comments on the field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on @John_fant.

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