When Antonio Reeves made a 3-pointer with 2:40 remaining in the game, the Arkansas Razorbacks were down 53–52 against the Kentucky Wildcats. This started an 8–0 run that lasted until 1 minute and 33 seconds later, with 1:07 remaining in the game. By then, Arkansas could not catch up with the 9-0 lead as the damage had already been done. In front of an enthusiastic audience on Saturday night at Bud Walton Arena, UK went on to defeat the Hogs 63-57.
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The Razorbacks (10-10, 1-6 SEC) led by ten points at 9:32 in the first half, with the Wildcats (15-4, 5-2 SEC) having only made one of their first 16 field goals of the game. However, Kentucky ended up connecting.
Following the match, Arkansas coach Eric Musselman remarked, “We changed a lot of things over the last three days.” “I thought our three practices before tonight’s game were excellent. It felt, in my opinion, like the most cohesive our squad has been all season. Undoubtedly, that is one of the best squads we have faced.
With a game-high 24 points on 9 of 20 shooting, including 4 of 8 from beyond the arc, Reeves concluded the evening with a strong performance. Makhi Mitchell led the Razorbacks in scoring with 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the process of recording a double-double.
Kentucky made 23 of 63 field goal attempts (36.5%), 9 of 20 free throw attempts (45%) and 8 of 12 free throw attempts (66.7%). Arkansas lost the turnover battle 13-9 but won the rebounding battle 44-39. The Hogs shot 20 of 60 (33.3%) from the field, 4 of 19 (21.1%) from 3-point range, and 13 of 18 (72.2%) from the foul line.
“Today, we simply wanted to go outside and demonstrate what Coach was teaching. Chandler Lawson, a forward for Arkansas (five points, seven rebounds), stated, “Just hustle, hustle, hustle.””It was incredibly depressing. We must make the most of every second. Kentucky is a strong squad. We should have won tonight, in my opinion. We must handle the ball with more care.”
It was announced prior to the game that Davonte Davis had left the team. Trevon Brazile did not participate because he was too injured to even practise this week (knee), while Keyon Menifield did not play because of a “coaches decision.”
