LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Over the last six weeks, the Arkansas men’s basketball team has rocketed into the national conversation as a sleeper pick to make the NCAA Final Four.
The Razorbacks won 12 of 13 games. They won at Louisiana State. They beat Tennessee. They were the first Southeastern Conference team to defeat Auburn.
Arkansas enhanced its resume one more time Saturday afternoon at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas, beating Kentucky, 75-73.
In a Final Four-level game, Kentucky rallied from a 13-point hole in the first half to lead by 4, but could not hold off a late Arkansas surge.
UK coach John Calipari was unhappy with his team's plodding start. But the Wildcats led, 70-69, with a minute and a half to play. Winning time is when Kentucky faltered.
Arkansas scored 6 of the next 7 points. In the final 2 minutes, UK missed four straight shots before TyTy Washington threw in a three-pointer at the buzzer.
By then most of Washington's teammates had left the court, trying to avoid a court storm that never occurred. UK slipped to 23-6 and 12-4 in the SEC. Arkansas improved to same records as the Wildcats, tied for second place in the league.
"We had some guys, they're not robots, they're not machines, but they just didn't play very well," Calipari said. "They didn't."
Oscar Tshiebwe continued his march toward SEC and national player of the year awards. Credit him with 30 points and 18 rebounds. Without him ... well, without him don't ask what would have happened to the Wildcats.
With UK getting one basket from Kellan Grady, one from Jacob Toppin and none from Davion Mintz (the trio went a combined 2 for 7 in 61 minutes), Calipari said he told his players to throw the ball to Tshiebwe on every possession. His criticism of Grady and Mintz was they failed to move into open spots where Tshiebwe could pass them the ball.
"I probably said (to keep moving) in every huddle, 10 times during the game," Calipari said. "He and Davion both. They just stood on the perimeter."
Grady did not score until the final 2:21. His three-pointer put Kentucky ahead, 70-69. Grady averages 12 points per game. This was the fewest points he scored since he failed to score in 20 minutes against Ohio University Nov. 19.Â
Another concerning development: This was the fourth straight game Kentucky has trailed by double figures. They won two at home (Alabama and LSU) but lost at Tennessee and Arkansas.
"I may have to switch around who I'm starting just to change it," Calipari said. "I've just got to watch the tape to see why it was what it was."
Arkansas guard JD Notae was also a beast, scoring 30 points with eight assists. Calipari tried a variety of defenders. He was convinced that Toppin could use his length to stop NotaeÂ
Wrong.Â
"He scored three straight baskets on him," Calipari said. "(Notae) did pretty good."
Pretty good?
Notae scored 30 the first 52 Arkansas points. He made three-pointers as well as dunk, bank shots as well as fadeaway. Not bad for a guy whose only Division 1 scholarship offer in 2017 was from Jacksonville University. He played two seasons in the ASun Conference before joining the parade of transfers for Eric Musselman at Arkansas. Now he's the second-leading scorer in the SEC.
"He's fast," Tshiebwe said. "He made a lot of good plays for his team."
The Wildcats played the first half in a funk. They missed 9 of their first 10 shots as Arkansas surged to a 15-2 lead. Tshiebwe was the only Kentucky who scored for the first 9 1/2 minutes. Kentucky missed all eight of its shots from distance in the first half.
Guards TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler did not start for the third consecutive game. But they did return, entering the game after 3 minutes and 6 seconds with UK trailing 7-2.
Signs of their recent inactivity were easy to see. In the first half, Washington and Wheeler combined to miss 9 of 11 shots. They had as many turnovers (2) as assists. They were 0 for 4 from distance. Although Wheeler finished with 14 points and Washington had 10, they made only 8 of 25 field goal attempts.
"Coming back from an injury, everybody is going to struggle a little bit," Tshiebwe said.
The mojo changed in the second half. Kentucky made 5 of its first 8 shots. The Wildcats pushed ahead, 41-40, when Keion Brooks slashed from the right win for a layup.
They eventually built the lead to 52-48 before Notae scored consecutive baskets to tie it.
One home game remains on the Kentucky schedule. The Wildcats host Ole Miss Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Rebels are not an NCAA Tournament team. In fact Saturday began with Ole Miss tied for 12th in the SEC with Missouri.
Kentucky will finish SEC play next Saturday at Florida before the Wildcats compete in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, which is booked for Tampa from March 9-13.
"We've got a home game and a road game and it's over," Calipari said. "Now we start tournament play, which is why we do what we do."
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