MUSSELMAN said UK’s threepointers were his fault.

Kentucky’s three-point shooting has been atrocious most of the season, so University of Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman and his staff built a defensive game plan around allowing the Wildcats to get whatever they could from three-point range Tuesday night.

It nearly backfired. The Wildcats got hot from three-point land and nearly rode that sizzling stroke to a comeback victory before the Razorbacks closed out an 81-80 victory on Jalen Tate’s two free throws with four seconds remaining at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.

Kentucky made a seasonhigh 14 three-point shots on 26 attempts, a 53.8% rate, and the Wildcats’ sizzling finish from behind the arc helped them rally from a 12-point deficit in the closing minutes.

Seven of Kentucky’s final nine made shots were from three-point range, capped by Davion Mintz’s connection from the right wing with 14 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats an 80-79 lead after trailing 72-60.

Musselman said the numbers bore out his plan.

“Quite frankly, the game plan was to give up the three,” Musselman said. “That’s on me. That’s not on our players. Any criticism about them making 14 threeballs can be put squarely on my shoulders and not the players’ shoulders whatsoever.”

Kentucky entered the game ranked 13th in SEC three-point shooting at 29.8% on 87-of-292 shooting. In conference play, the Wildcats have been better, hitting 57 of 172 three-point tries for 33.1% to rank seventh.

“We were willing to live with the three, based on the numbers both in conference play and nonconference play,” Musselman said. “So all 14 of those, stick them right on my shoulders.”

The Wildcats’ top threepoint shooting game had been 11 of 21 (52.4%) in a 7873 win at Mississippi State on Jan. 2.

Called steal

Davonte Davis said he predicted he would get a steal on Kentucky’s final possession, which sealed Arkansas’ 81-80 victory.

As the Hogs emerged from a timeout, Davis made the prediction to fellow freshman Jaylin Williams. Jalen Tate made a free throw with 4.3 seconds remaining, then Davis stole 7-footer Olivier Sarr’s pass toward guard Vince Askew just before the final buzzer.

“I told Jaylin Williams that before Jalen Tate shot his second free throw that I was going to get a steal, which is a crazy part,” Davis said. “I got the steal and sealed it with a dunk.”

Davis’ dunk came after the final buzzer, but it touched off a big celebration under the basket.

Swing play

A key sequence turned in Arkansas’ favor early in the second half. The Wildcats thought they had a try at a three-point play for Isaiah Jackson when he tipped in a pass, but official Steven Anderson ruled Jalen Tate had fouled Jackson on the floor prior to the lob pass.

Moments later, Arkansas’ Moses Moody stripped the ball from Brandon Boston on a drive in the paint. The Razorbacks turned it into a break, with Tate scoring on a layup and converting it into a three-point play and Arkansas’ first 10-point lead at 52-42 on a foul by Jackson.

Board battle

The Razorbacks struggled to get offensive rebounds all night, but their last was their best. Jalen Tate crashed into the lane and rebounded a missed shot by Davonte Davis, then was fouled with 4.3 seconds left to set up his winning free throws.

Kentucky outrebounded the Hogs 42-33. The Wildcats owned a 12-5 edge on the offensive boards and an 11-6 advantage in secondchance points.

Stuck on 999

Arkansas forward Justin Smith scored nine points to bring his career scoring total to 999 points. Smith scored his first 821 points at Indiana and now has 178 points for the Razorbacks.

The graduate transfer will become the fourth Razorback this season to hit the 1,000-point mark when he scores his next point, joining Vance Jackson, JD Notae and Jalen Tate.

Fancy pass

Davonte Davis was ahead of the field after Jaylin Williams’ blocked shot on Davion Mintz led to a Moses Moody rebound and runout. However, Davis sensed a defender on his tail, so he pulled up on the left block and delivered a no-look, behind-the-back bounce pass to Justin Smith for an easy layup and 54-44 Arkansas lead.

Spurt scoring

The Razorbacks had four different players account for scoring runs of three or more points in the first half.

Connor Vanover had the biggest individual run, a seven-point spree with a little help from Justin Smith. After Vanover nailed his first three-point try of the game from the right wing to give Arkansas a 5-4 lead, he threw down dunks for the Razorbacks’ next two field goals. The first came on a deflected pass thrown by Smith, and the next on a clean feed from Smith.

The next mini-run came courtesy of Smith on a made free throw at 15:14 and his short jumper at 12:50.

Vance Jackson contributed a 5-0 run later in the half with a deep three-pointer from the left wing for a 30-30 tie, followed by a step-through short jumper to make it 3232 at the 4:00 mark.

Davonte Davis got the last run, hitting a jumper at the 2:45 mark and another short shot with 48 seconds remaining to give Arkansas a 36-35 halftime lead.

Still perfect

Connor Vanover hasn’t taken many free throws this season, but he’s on the mark when he does. Vanover went 2 for 2 at the stripe at the 18:18 mark of the second half to give Arkansas a 41-40 lead.

The 7-3 sophomore, shooting his first free throws since Jan. 6 at Tennessee, improved to 19 of 19 on the season.

Bones’ takes

Razorback fan Bobby Bones, a Nashville, Tenn.based country and western disc jockey, got pre-game air-time, and also shared the ESPN broadcast with Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes during the first half.

Bones, a big Razorbacks fan and winner of “Dancing With the Stars” in 2018, was complimentary of both teams.

Of Kentucky, Bones remarked, “I think they’re starting to come together.”

Dykes asked him about performing with pressure, and Bones applied that to the current Razorbacks, who have pushed toward the top of the SEC standings the last couple of weeks.

“If you’re going to grow, you have to be uncomfortable,” Bones said. “Pressure is a good thing. You’re not going to grow without it.”