Arkansas falls short against No. 6 Kentucky
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks (10-10, 1-6 SEC) put up a valiant effort, but fell short in the end with a 63-57 loss to the No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats (15-4, 5-2 SEC) on a day that ESPN's College GameDay was at Bud Walton Arena.
In a game that was fairly even throughout, it was the play of Kentucky guards Antonio Reeves (24 points) and Reed Sheppard (14 points) that put the Wildcats over the top down the stretch.
Arkansas guard Tramon Mark scored 11 points and brought down eight boards after missing Wednesday's loss to Ole Miss with migraines. Forward Makhi Mitchell had a double-double with 12 points and 13 boards in the losing effort.
The Rundown...
Despite the bad news of guard Devo Davis stepping away from the team and forward Trevon Brazile (knee) being unavailable, the Razorbacks managed to get off to a hot start with a 7-3 advantage by the first media timeout.
The same Kentucky team that entered the game ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring offense was held to just four points and one made field goal by the 11:14 mark, when the Razorbacks had a 9-4 lead over the Wildcats.
Even with young guards Layden Blocker and Joseph Pinion getting run near the midway mark of the first half, Arkansas was still getting shots to fall offensively and the Hogs were showing a lot of improvement with the transition defense after made baskets.
By the time the under-8 minute media timeout came along, Kentucky was just 3-of-21 from the field and the Razorbacks had an 18-8 lead on the scoreboard and a 19-11 advantage on the boards.
Kentucky closed the gap to five by the final media break of the half with 3:54 left to play. By that point, the Razorbacks were in the midst of a two-minute scoring drought and they had missed their last six shots from the field.
Mark ended nearly five-minute drought without a field goal by draining a midrange pull-up at the 2:40 mark, and that ended up being the Hogs' final made field goal of the half. Arkansas missed 11 of its last 12 from the field and allowed Kentucky to trim the Hogs' lead to 26-24 at halftime.
Kentucky tied the game at 28-28 out of the gate in the second half, but the Bud Walton Arena crowd started to pick up and Arkansas went on a run to make it 37-31 by the 15:10 mark. Battle scored five points in the first five minutes of the half, while Mitchell added two blocks on the defensive end in the same span.
The Wildcats responded with a quick 7-0 run, and a steal and slam from Reed Sheppard gave Kentucky its first lead of the game (38-37) and triggered a timeout from Eric Musselman with 12:54 to play.
Four turnovers by the Razorbacks allowed Kentucky more possessions and points off turnovers, and the Wildcats were able to grab a 44-43 lead by the 8-minute media timeout.
There was a stoppage in play for Mark, who seemed to have cramps, at the 4:14 mark. Kentucky was clinging onto a 53-50 advantage at the point and guard Antonio Reeves was up to 21 points.
El Ellis drove the lane and hit a layup for the Hogs to make it a 1-point game, but Reeves responded with a three on the other end to put Kentucky back up by four. The run was extended to 8-0 for the Wildcats, who managed to go up 61-52 by the 1:27 mark.
Fans immediately started to hit the exits, and the Hogs hit just one more shot from the field after that point.
Up next, the Razorbacks will hit the road for a matchup at Missouri on Wednesday in Columbia, Missouri. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and it will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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Box Score
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