Kentucky must avoid as many costly turnovers against Arkansas this time

Arkansas kept pressure on UK and forced turnovers it converted into points in a win at Rupp Arena. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Don’t tell Bruiser Flint anything about Arkansas losing by 18 points at Tennessee in its last game.

“They beat us pretty good last time we played,” Flint said about Arkansas’ 89-73 win over UK in Rupp Arena in early February. “They have good athletes.

“I thought we did a poor job handling the ball. The game got away because we turned it over a lot and turned it over for baskets. They are a good team. Their talent is as good as anybody in the league. They gave us a hard time the first time we played them.”

Arkansas could be even better this time because freshman guard Nick Smith is back playing after missing most of the season with a knee injury. He’s a player UK recruited heavily.

“He is a talented player, an unbelievable talent,” Flint said. “He gives them more depth and gives them versatility. He can play point, play wing. That adds depth. They have played small, played big since he has come back. He is starting to play well.”

Flint didn’t know Friday if freshman point guard Cason Wallace would be able to play or not after injuring his ankle early in the second half of the Vanderbilt loss. Coach John Calipari indicated after the Vandy game that senior point guard Sahvir Wheeler would be out at least another two weeks.

“He (Wallace) has just been getting treatment and we’ll see how it goes,” Flint said.

If Wallace cannot go, or not play extended minutes, that could mean shooting guard Antonio Reeves will have to play more at point like he did in the second half against Vanderbilt. He was only 4-for-17 from the field and missed two shots in the final 40 seconds.

“What it does is put the ball in his hands a lot and people get on top of him,” Flint said. “He might have to do that (play point) again tomorrow.”

Flint said they were “trying to figure out” what to do if Wallace cannot play and how best to use Reeves, guard CJ Fredrick, wing Chris Livingston and freshman guard Adou Thiero.

“We got time to prepare, so we’ll try to do the best we can,” Flint said.

Flint said the staff would fall back on some things it prepared to do at Tennessee earlier this season when Wheeler was out and Wallace was questionable due to a back injury before playing. However, Thiero still provided quality minutes in the win.

“We did some different things with him out there,” Flint said. “We have had a little bit of experience with it. We will harp back to that and put us in the best situation we can.”