Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Hogs push Wildcats to limit in defeat
LEXINGTON, Ky. — No. 4 Kentucky survived a surprising upset bid from the University of Arkansas with a big second-half rally to pull out a 70-66 victory on Tuesday before a crowd of 21,998 at Rupp Arena.
The final seconds of the game featured a pair of replay reviews by the officiating crew and a key outof-bounds call that went in Kentucky’s favor with two seconds left.
Kentucky Coach John Calipari called for his team to foul Arkansas guard Jalen Harris with 3.2 seconds remaining and the Wildcats ahead by three. Harris made the first free throw, but he failed to hit the rim while intentionally missing the second.
Mason Jones and Keldon Johnson wrestled for the inbounds pass, and it was called out on Jones on the floor and after a review.
Immanuel Quickley hit a pair of free throws at the other end to lock in the final score.
The game played out like few could have imagined based on the current momentum of the two teams.
Kentucky (24-4, 13-2 SEC) won its 14th game in its past 15 outings. The Razorbacks (14-14, 5-10) dropped their sixth game in a row.
Kentucky assured itself of being tied for the SEC lead heading into Saturday’s showdown against Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Razorbacks’ six-game losing streak is the most since the 2009-10 team coached by John Pelphrey dropped its final six games.
The Hogs trailed by 15 points early in the second half after Arkansas guard Desi Sills hit a couple of three-pointers for a 45-30 lead.
Kentucky shot back into contention and then took the lead with a run of 18-3 as a Razorbacks’ offense that functioned smoothly in the opening half turned tentative.
The Wildcats ran off 12 consecutive points and took a 54-51 lead on Tyler Herro’s three-pointer at the 7:04 mark. It was Kentucky’s first lead since 11-10 at the 13:45 mark of the first half.
The Razorbacks were 4-of15 shooting to open the second half during the Kentucky blitz.
Arkansas scored just 15 points after leading 51-42 on Jones’ three-pointer with 13:05 remaining.
Isaiah Joe broke out of a three-game lull from threepoint range to trigger the Razorbacks. He made 5 of 7 from three-point range and finished with 19 points. The Wildcats were pasted to the freshman in the second half, when he was limited to three points on three shots.
Sills scored 15 points for the Razorbacks, including 3-of-5 three-point shooting and a 4-of-4 performance from the line. Daniel Gafford fought through foul trouble to score 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
Gafford’s third-chance stick-back from point-blank range pulled Arkansas within 65-62 with 58 seconds remaining.
Ashton Hagans missed a three-point try at the other end with 29 seconds remaining, but the Wildcats retained possession when Gabe Osabuohien deflected the rebound out of bounds with the shot clock off.
PJ Washington hit 1 of 2 free throws with 26 seconds left, but Jones canned a three-pointer from the wing with nine seconds left to cut the deficit to 66-65.
Herro made a pair of free throws with 5.4 seconds left to push the Kentucky lead back to 68-65.
Herro was the Wildcats’ top weapon with 29 points on 9-of-10 shooting, including 5 of 6 from three-point range. Johnson added 13 points, and Nick Richards had 15 rebounds and 7 points.
The tight affair was uncommon for recent Kentucky games outside of a 73-71 home loss to LSU on Feb. 12. The Wildcats blasted defending SEC co-champions Tennessee and Auburn in their last two home games by an average of 22 points per game.
Kentucky jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first two minutes, but the tone of the first half changed soon thereafter as the Razorbacks played sticky man defense and Joe got hot from three-point range.
A runner by Gafford in the lane, following a Joe three-pointer, tied the game at 5-5 before Kentucky sprung a 6-3 run.
Gafford left the game with his second foul at the 14:18 mark, but the undeterred Razorbacks got tougher on defense. A series of eight turnovers by Kentucky in a four-minute span sparked a 12-1 Arkansas run.
Joe and Sills hit three-pointers during the stretch, and Reggie Chaney added a dunk on a pass from Joe.
Kentucky drew back within four points at 22-18, but the Razorbacks’ hot half wasn’t over.
Joe added seven more points, Sills had four, and Gafford returned to add a dunk and lay-in with two seconds left in the half to push Arkansas’ advantage to 39-28.