Hogs bully Cats in loss that puts UK on tourney bubble
Published 11:06 am Wednesday, February 8, 2023
- Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe had a hard time in the post throughout the Cats loss on Tuesday night. (Photo by Les Nicholson/Kentucky Today)
When push concerned push, Kentucky couldn’t take on Arkansas.
The Wildcats had a six-game Southeastern Conference winning streak snapped in an 88-73 loss to the rising Razorbacks Tuesday night in Rupp Arena.
The loss was the 2nd conference problem at home and the 3rd of the season for the Wildcats. Arkansas declared its 3rd straight win over Kentucky and beat the Wildcats for simply the 5th time in Lexington, with 2 of those coming under coach Eric Musselman. Arkansas has actually won 5 of its previous 6 video games.
“Give Arkansas credit,” Calipari said. “They were physical, they drove the ball, our rim protection was awful and we couldn’t get guys to body up and they did a great job of bodying us up.”
Kentucky (16-8, 7-4) stopped working to match the Razorbacks’ strength, specifically in the 2nd half. Arkansas (17-7, 6-5) shot a blistering 72 percent — 18 for 25 — from the field in the last 20 minutes and utilized a 6-0 scoring blitz to open the 2nd duration to set the tone for the rest of the video game.
“You’re not going to win a game if they’re shooting 72 percent,” Calipari said. “We tried some zone, tried some different things, we switched, they got downhill and no one in (the post) wanted to body up, which is what they did to us. They were way better than us today. We’ve just got to figure it out,”
The Kentucky coach included his team “did all the right things” on defense, however Arkansas couldn’t miss out on when it mattered one of the most.
“They made shots, now,” Calipari said. “They played well, and we’re a pretty good defensive team. We weren’t tonight. We just weren’t.”
The visitors continuously beat the Wildcats off the dribble and completed with 46 points in the paint. Overall, the Razorbacks shot 63 percent from the field. As has actually held true for the majority of the season, Kentucky dealt with the pick-and-roll defense.
“They kept getting downhill on us,” Wallace said. “Give them props, but we’ve got to do better with our pick-and-roll defense.”
Calipari’s team dedicated 15 turnovers, with the Razorbacks scoring 23 points off those miscues.
Wallace, the SEC Freshman of the Week, led the Wildcats with 24 points, followed by Chris Livingtson with 13. Jacob Toppin and Antonio Reeves cracked in with 11 points each.
Kentucky got a huge lift in the very first half from a not likely source. Sophomore Daimion Collins, who had actually scored 7 points in the previous 2 encounters, tallied 7 in the very first half versus the Razorbacks.
Oscar Tshiebwe was restricted to simply 7 points and 7 rebounds.
“We were trying to get it in to him,” Calipari said. “I thought he worked at times, and other times they were getting around the post, and they just bodied him. I was doing some stuff to let him get some jump shots to get him going. He’s got to be better for us, and he will be.”
Calipari opted for a seven-man rotation, while point player Sahvir Wheeler didn’t play since of an ankle injury.
Gametracker: Kentucky at Georgia, midday, Saturday. TELEVISION/Radio: SEC Network, UK Radio Network.
