Arkansas turned out to support the Hogs against Kentucky Saturday. (SEC Photo)
Coach John Calipari had no choice but to depend on his best player Saturday and the scheme nearly worked in Kentucky’s 75-73 loss at Arkansas in loud Bud Walton Arena. After watching the Wildcats miss nine of their first 10 shots that enabled the Razorbacks to race out to a 15-2 lead, Calipari ran his team’s offense mostly through Oscar Tshiebwe and the Player of the Year candidate responded. Tshiebwe tied a career-high with 30 points and completed a double-double with 18 rebounds to go along with two assists, three blocked shots, and a steal.
Much like Calipari, Tshiebwe knew it was going to be his day.
“He came in the huddle and said, ‘Look, the guy can’t guard me’ and he doesn’t say anything. How about this? Doesn’t say a word to the officials … he just plays and he’s playing for his teammates,” Calipari said.
The Wildcats needed him against the Razorbacks, especially in the first half. The junior forward scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, keeping the game close until the rest of his teammates followed suit in the second half and forced 17 lead changes before Arkansas pulled away in the closing minutes.
“We had some guys — they’re not robots (and) they’re not machines — they did not play well … they didn’t,” Calipari said. “There were a couple of guys that hurt us after I saw the start of the game (and) we’re throwing it to Oscar every single time we can. … throw it to him. Let him go. That’s what we did.”
Kentucky’s backcourt duo of Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington returned after missing the past two games because of injuries and it took time for them to get back into sync.
Despite a slow start by both players, Wheeler finished with 14 points, three rebounds, and five assists. Washington had 10 points and added three assists. Keion Brooks rounded out four players in double figures with 14 points and played a big role in Kentucky’s performance in the second half.
While Tshiebwe was a handful for Arkansas (23-6, 12-4 Southeastern Conference), the Razorbacks got a big performance from JD Notae, who matched Tshiebwe for game-high scoring honors with 30 points of his own. Similar to Tshiebwe, Notae carried his team in the opening half, scoring 18 points.
“They went through Notae and he did pretty good,” Calipari said. “I tried to put Jacob (Toppin) on him, he couldn’t play it. I don’t know what the problem was, but he scored three straight baskets on Jacob. Normally, Jacob’s that guy (and he) had that look on his face today and I don’t know why.”
Still, the Wildcats (23-6, 12-4) had an opportunity to win despite falling behind by double figures in the first half for the fourth straight game.
“We had our chances to win,” Calipari said. “We’re a good team.”
So is Arkansas, which has won 13 of its last 14 games to move into a second-place tie with Kentucky in the league standings with two games remaining in the regular season. Both teams trail league-leader Auburn by one game.
