Tuesday's 88-73 domination of Kentucky gave the Arkansas Razorbacks a much-needed boost in metrics after they began SEC play 1-5.
Since that shaky start, the Hogs have rattled off five-straight conference wins, with the biggest coming in a battle between bubble teams inside Rupp Arena. The Razorbacks shot 62.7% from the field to tie a program record in SEC play, and Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe recorded just seven points and seven rounds after entering the game averaging a double-double on the season.
"Just a great, great win for us," head coach Eric Musselman said after the game. "I’m really proud of the team for leading for 33 minutes. That’s really hard to do on the road, and with a crowd like they had tonight."
Arkansas has now started SEC play with a losing record through the first five games and turned it around to have a winning record in conference play before mid-February for three straight seasons. Injuries have popped up over the past two seasons, but to overcome this year's injuries to star players Nick Smith Jr. (knee) and Trevon Brazile (torn ACL) means a little more.
"There's not many teams in the country that could play with these type of injuries we've dealt with and the quality of players that have not been able to participate with us and find a way," Musselman said. "It's a resilient group. I'm really proud of them. The huddles were great tonight. There was great communication with all five guys sitting in the chair."
Musselman also made the point that Arkansas has dropped four games this season by three points each. If another possession or call goes the Hogs' way in each of those games, they could be sitting with three losses at this point.
The reality is, they lost those games, and that's not changing. But Arkansas is on a roll and junior guard Davonte Davis doesn't see it slowing down.
"I feel like we haven’t even reached our peak," Davis said. "We’re just now getting better. We’re just now getting to the level that y’all as the outsiders and our fans and everyone that expected us to be good, I think we’re reaching that now. We’ve still got a lot of things to work on for sure, but other than that, I think this is huge."
With a tough remaining schedule that includes trips to Texas A&M, No. 3 Alabama and No. 6 Tennessee, a win inside Rupp Arena over the Wildcats was huge for Arkansas' metrics. The Razorbacks were right on the bubble according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi in his Tuesday bracketology update, but a road win over another bubble team in Kentucky moved the Hogs up on a number of services.
Here's a current look at where Arkansas stands on different services and how far it shifted after the Kentucky win:
* - denotes that the metric hasn't been updated
