COLUMBIA, Mo. — Arkansas coach John Calipari became the fifth Division I men’s basketball coach to reach 900 career wins with the Razorbacks’ 88-84 victory over Missouri on Saturday.

Arkansas (23-8, 13-5 SEC) delivered Calipari the milestone victory without Southeastern Conference leading scorer Darius Acuff Jr., who missed the game with an undisclosed injury.

“If it meant anything, do you think Darius would have been playing today?” Calipari said. “I would have played him. That stuff, when you do this a long time, that’s the kind of stuff that happens if parents entrust you with their child.”

Calipari joins Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Rick Pitino and Roy Williams as the only coaches with 900 Division I victories.

Calipari, at 67, is the second-youngest coach to win 900 games behind Krzyzewski, who reached the milestone at the age of 64.

Calipari is also the third-fastest coach to reach the 900-win mark, accomplishing the feat in his 1,185th career game.

Calipari has coached five Final Four teams and won a national championship with Kentucky in 2012.

Missouri Coach Dennis Gates said that while he has not had the experience of coaching under Calipari, he still has a lot of respect for what Calipari has accomplished.

“Being able to be a coach that wins a national championship, that’s one of my goals,” Gates said. “Being able to be a Hall of Fame coach, that’s one of my goals. Obviously, compared to him, I’m in the infant stages of my career.”

Calipari is wrapping up his second season at Arkansas after spending 15 years coaching Kentucky. Prior to his time in Lexington, Calipari coached at Memphis for nine seasons after starting his collegiate head-coaching career with an eight-year stint at Massachusetts.

It was a historic night at Bud Walton Arena on Friday as the No. 8 Gymbacks went toe-to-toe with the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners. While Arkansas fell to Oklahoma 197.925-197.500, there were 15,512 fans in attendance, a new Arkansas and SEC gymnastics attendance record.

Despite the loss, Arkansas’ score of 197.500 was its best at home this season, propelled by the energy of the crowd in the building. The previous SEC gymnastics attendance record, 15,162, was set by Alabama and took 20 years to break.

The Gymbacks closed out the meet with a season-high 49.650 on floor, matching the third-best floor score in program history and besting the Sooners’ 49.375 on the event.

Both Joscelyn Roberson and Morgan Price had record nights, as each matched the program high of 9.975 on floor and bars, respectively. Roberson became the second-ever Gymback to score 9.975 on floor with the mark, along with teammate Frankie Price. Morgan is now the only Arkansas gymnast to score 9.975 on bars two times.

Roberson and Morgan Price’s scores were good for the event titles, and Arkansas also had four more top three finishes on the night: Cami Weaver tied for second on vault with a 9.925, Leah Smith earned shares of second on floor (9.950) and third on bars (9.900) and Allison Cucci tied for second on floor (9.950) and third on beam (9.900).

Vault

Weaver got things started out strong on vault with a big Yurchenko full that score 9.925, including a perfect mark of 9.950 for the vault from one judge. Smith went next and got a 9.850, and Cucci matched it midway through the lineup. Klein scored 9.800 for her Yurchenko 1.5 up fourth. After Lauren Williams scored a 9.750 in the five spot, Morgan Price anchored the rotation with a 9.850 for a total vault score of 49.275.

Bars

Roberson led off bars with a 9.825 and Klein followed with a 9.800 up second. Smith started the sticks midway through the lineup and she scored 9.900 to keep the momentum up. Avery King went 9.850 in fourth, and Avalon Campbell dialed up a 9.800 in the fifth spot. Morgan Price ended the lineup with a bang as she earned a 9.975 for the second time this season, putting a bow on a 49.350 bars score.

Beam

Priscilla Park and Weaver earned 9.850s on beam in the front half of the lineup, and Klein scored a 9.800. Cucci went up and got a 9.900 in fourth, delivering a solid routine with stuck dismount. Morgan Price then earned a 9.825 up fifth, and Roberson scored 9.775 as the anchor. The Gymbacks concluded beam with a 49.225.

Floor

Arkansas’ last floor party of the season at Bud Walton Arena did not disappoint, and Klein got it going in a big way with a season high 9.900 first. Cucci went second and earned a new career high of 9.950, and Smith matched it to keep the energy up in a big way for Arkansas. Frankie Price scored 9.775 in the fourth position, and Williams got a 9.875 in fifth. Needing a bit of juice to end the rotation, Roberson put down her best floor score of the season and received a 10 from one judge, notching her second-ever 9.975 on the event to push the Gymbacks’ floor total to a monster 49.650.

Up Next

Arkansas closes out the regular season on the road on Friday, March 13 at No. 2 LSU. The action is set for 7:30 p.m. in Baton Rouge and the meet will be streamed live on SEC Network+.

More Information

Visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com for the latest information on all things Arkansas Gymnastics. You can also find the Razorbacks on social media by liking us on Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Gymnastics) and following us on Twitter and Instagram (@RazorbackGym).

An Arkansas man accused of killing his teenage daughter’s alleged abuser recently won the Republican nomination for local sheriff while waiting to stand trial for murder in his rural county, where he ran on a message of seeing the failures of law enforcement.

Aaron Spencer defeated Lonoke county sheriff John Staley in a primary election Tuesday, according to unofficial results posted by the Arkansas secretary of state. He would not be able to serve if he is convicted of killing Michael Fosler, 67, who at the time was out on bond after being charged with numerous sexual offenses against Spencer’s then 13-year-old daughter.

Spencer’s attorneys do not deny that he shot and killed Fosler – but maintain he acted within the law to protect his child from a predator.

Spencer won more than 53% of the vote with all precincts reporting, according to unofficial results. Staley, whose department arrested Spencer in 2024, conceded the loss.

“Congratulations to Mr Spencer,” Staley said in a statement posted on Facebook. “Tonight the voters made their decision in the Republican Primary, and I respect the decision.”

Spencer said in a statement that his message of accountability resonated with voters.

“Tonight, the people of Lonoke county stood up and chose transparency and accountability,” Spencer said. “This wasn’t a campaign about me. It was about every family who called for help and got nothing. That betrayal ends tonight.”

He is now set to face Democrat Brian Mitchell Sr in the heavily Republican county in November.

Spencer has pleaded not guilty and is out on bond while awaiting trial, which was originally scheduled to start in January. The trial was delayed after the presiding judge was removed from the case. A new date has not been set.

Court documents show that on the night of the October 2024 shooting, Spencer woke up to find his daughter missing from her bedroom and went searching for her in his truck. He found the girl in the passenger seat of a vehicle Fosler was driving. Spencer eventually forced Fosler’s truck off the highway and, after an altercation, called 911 to report he had shot the man, records show.

Prosecutors argue Spencer had planned to kill Fosler even before that night and that he could have called police while pursuing Fosler.

Spencer’s attorney, Erin Cassinelli, wrote in an email to the Associated Press that the election results have no bearing on the facts of the case.

“Aaron Spencer did exactly what the law allows and exactly what any father would do: he protected his daughter and himself from harm,” Cassinelli said. “At some point, those responsible for this prosecution will have to reckon with that.”

Spencer pledged in a Facebook post in February that if elected he would establish a dedicated team to combat sex crimes against children.