Kentucky fans don’t need to be reminded of what happened the last time the Wildcats travelled to Bud Walton Arena. The 16-10 Razorbacks stunned the #22nd ranked Wildcats in overtime and put the BBN into full freak out mode. The loss dropped the Wildcats to 19-8 and raised serious concerns among UK fans whether this version of the Wildcats would ever “get it”. That loss however was the loss that brought the Wildcats together as one and established a “will to win” that made that team a Final Four team. After the loss to the Hogs, Kentucky banded together and won 10 games in a row and did not lose until the Final Four loss to UConn.
The similarities with this years team are amazing. After losing Nerlens Noel for the season, this Kentucky team suffered a humiliating loss to Tennessee, which seems to have established a “will to win” with these Wildcats. Kentucky has won three games in a row and seem to be finally hitting their stride. And now they travel to Bud Walton Arena for a game that will impact their season.
The Wildcats run into a real Jekyll and Hyde team in the Razorbacks. Away from home, the Hogs are miserable, going 1-8 and suffering blowout losses to Vanderbilt and South Carolina. The Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena? Well, that is a different story. Arkansas is 16-1 at home and have knocked off Florida, Oklahoma, and Missouri. That home court magic does not appear to be enough to salvage a NCAA Tournament season however. After Wednesday’s loss to LSU, Arkansas now has a RPI rank of around 89 and are now in serious spoiler status. This series has been dominated by Kentucky lately, who have won eleven of twelve, and four of five at Bud Walton. As we mentioned, this is a different Razorback team at home. Let’s look at the probable starters:
KENTUCKY WILDCATS 20-8 (11-4)
G RYAN HARROW
G ARCHIE GOODWIN
G JULIUS MAYS
F ALEX POYTHRESS
C WILLIE CAULEY-STEIN
ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS 17-11 (8-7)
G MARDRACUS WADE
G BJ YOUNG
G RICKEY SCOTT
F COTY CLARKE
F MARSHAWN POWELL
It’s a final. Arkansas 73 Kentucky 60
Mays hits a trey but too little too laye. 70-59 at 1:52
68-56 @ 2:13 mark. Kentucky has to beat Florida for NCAA
UK 67-56 with around 3:00 left
Poythress fouls out at 4:58 mark down 63-50
Arkansas has 63 FG attempts to UK 33, Not going to beat Radford like that
UK down 61-46 with 7:52 left. The Cats have committed 18 turnovers and allowed 17 offensive rebounds.
— Kentucky Athletics(@UKAthleticsNews) March 2, 2013
Arkansas has taken 22 shots this half. Kentucky 7, No shock, it’s 59-44 Hogs. Got to shoot to score, guy
My game story will read something like: “… and then Kentucky turned it over, followed by an Arkansas offensive rebound …”
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_CJ) March 2, 2013
Thing is, Arkansas is shooting just 37% and leads by 12
RT @_scriv_: Well good, Jon Hood’s in now. This should be fun. // Can’t be worse than a couple who have played all day w/ no production.
— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) March 2, 2013
11:26 for UK’s NCAA hopes (barring an upset of Florida) and it’s 54-42 Arkansas
UK let’s Coty Clark rebound a airball for a basket and fouls. Three point play Ark, 50-40 Ark
There we go, Goodwin takes ball inside, and finds Poythress wide open for the trey. Then WCS goaltends. 47-40 Ark
Arkansas 45-37 at 14:30
Arkansas has 9 steals to UK’s 1
Check that, Kentucky has 15 turnovers and Arkansas owns a 21-2 edge in points off turnovers in the game
— Matt May (@TCPMattMay) March 2, 2013
Arkansas 43, Kentucky 33, 15:29 2H | FGs this half: Cats 1-2, Hogs 4-7.
— Brett Dawson (@BDawsonRivals) March 2, 2013
Kentucky playing like they have not seen this Arkasas defense on tape or TV. 43-31 @ 16:51
Uh oh. Arkansas has the momentum and up 40-31 now. Smell blood in the water
Arkansas comes out on fire, takes a 37-31 lead, Cal calls TO with 18:57 left
Guessing Cal said say thing RT @leeamanda002: @vaughtsviews just rebound on the defensive end…. that would be a 6-8 point turn-around
— Vaughts’ Views (@vaughtsviews) March 2, 2013
Polson played 11 minutes first half, Harrow 9. Harrow had 2 fouls, 3 turnovers.
— John Clay (@johnclayiv) March 2, 2013
Halftime: UK 11-24 FGs, 1-6 3FGs, 6-11 FTs, 23 reb, 2 ast, 11 TO; Ark 12-39 FGs, 4-16 3FGs, 4-6 FTs, 23 reb, 7 ast, 10 TO.
— Brett Dawson (@BDawsonRivals) March 2, 2013
Foul with 2.4 remaining put Arkansas at line, Arkansas up 32-29 at half
Arkansas up 31-29 with 22 seconds left. Took a TO for last shot
Arkansas 31-28 WCS to the line
Wade with a wide open trey gives Ark a 31-28 lead. Got to cover that.
Polson’s FT’s give UK a 26-25 lead but a Bell trey makes it 28-26
Cats are shooting it pretty well (10 of 21), but Arkansas has 11 more shots than UK because of the turnovers. UK trails 25-24, 3:47 mark.
— CoachCal.com (@CoachCalDotCom) March 2, 2013
Poythress with 2 fouls. Arkansas up 25-24 with 3:47, Kentucky frustrated but fighting through it
Very hectic paee but UK down just 21-20 with 6:37 left
UK has 6 FG abd TO already
Arkansas 18 UK 14 at 9:11 mark
UK 14 Arkansas 13 under 10:00
0 FG in over 5:00 for UK Still 13-12
Arkansas absolutely smothering UK on defense now every trip down.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_CJ) March 2, 2013
After promising start, UK falling apart. Arkansas 13 UK 12
Arkansas takes the lead with a trey at 13-12. Hogs on a 9-1 run
As much as I like Jarrod Polson, have to wonder how much he can play and help in this game.
— Vaughts’ Views (@vaughtsviews) March 2, 2013
Kentucky not taking care of the ball and Arkansas making them pay. 3 straight UK turnovers
Play getting sloppy and Cal not happy with the D, !2-10 UK at 14:35 mark
Very little contact on Goodwin there, replay shows. His habit of spinning on drives made it look worse than it was.
— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) March 2, 2013
UK off to a good start up 11-6 at 15:30 mark. Wiltjer with 5, WCS with 4. Goodwin gets fouled hard but seem OK
It’s UK 4 Ark 2 at the 17:28 mark
WCS starts with a rebound, a jumper, and a block. Good start
Gulley is starting a G for Arkansas rather than Sott
Looks like national coverage is cutting away for the start of the UK game in most markets
Coming up next: @ukathleticsnews v @razorbackmbb at 4:10 PM ET with Brian Anderson and Dan Bonner
— CBS Sports PR(@CBSSportsGang) March 2, 2013
Got a ton of time in this Kansas game. It’s 74-50 with 7:21 left. Wonder what CBS will do
Still 10:00 left on this Kansas /WVU game and a blowout. Expect a late start as I don’t think CBS starts games in progress, but can’t remember
at home,,, ARK avg’s 9 fewer turnovers per game than opponents.on road, margin is only 2.Cats must protect the ball today
— Tom Leach (@tomleachKY) March 2, 2013
Topics: Arkansas Razorbacks, Basketball Articles, Kentucky Wildcats
I'm the founder and creator of the Wildcat Blue Nation and am a proud UK grad and was born in Madisonville. After graduating from UK, I bounced around the media industry, working in TV and radio. Evenually I crossed over to corporate America and am now self employed .... but I've always been a sportswriter at heart. So I started this site on May 23,2009 to provide Kentucky Wildcat news and opinion ... without the drama.
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