Kentucky coach John Calipari picked up two quick technical fouls arguing with officials over a call made on the floor, and was ejected early from the Wildcats' 73-66 road win against Arkansas on Saturday. Calipari got booted over a dispute with the officials when they called an offensive foul on sophomore EJ Montgomery with 8:18 left in the second half.
Calipari scooted out of the coaches box and towards half court, then continued to plead his case at midcourt for a flop -- not an offensive foul -- when in a 15-second span officials decided they'd seen enough and tossed him.
The ejection came with Kentucky and Arkansas knotted up at 44, and the roof at Bud Walton Arena nearly exploded with Arkansas fans erupting in excitement.
Bud Walton erupts as Coach Calipari gets tossed from the game: pic.twitter.com/UovEqA9jlJ
— Nikki Chavanelle (@NikkiChavanelle) January 18, 2020
What followed was a wet blanket for Razorbacks fans: after Arkansas' Mason Jones hit the free throws after the second technical foul to give the Razorbacks a 47-44 lead, Kentucky went on a 17-2 run that effectively put the game out of reach. The Wildcats built their lead to double digits before Arkansas made a last-ditch effort to close the gap and failed.
Calipari had been pleading his case throughout the day with the officiating crew that Arkansas players were flopping throughout the game, and to no avail. His case-pleading escalated before the ejection when Montgomery's offensive foul gave him four fouls on the day and put him at risk to be benched for fouling out. Montgomery fouled out two minutes later.
Someone who knows him pretty well, didn't think Calipari went over the line. Check out what Brad Calipari said about his father and former coach said about the tirade:
He gets more upset when he can’t find a @dunkindonuts near by https://t.co/cKCFlxFjiA
— Brad Calipari (@bradcalipari) January 18, 2020