Analysis | Arkansas no test for No. 1 Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The top-ranked Kentucky basketball team had an unmistakable air of confidence about it headed into Saturday's showdown with 18th-ranked Arkansas. The Razorbacks pose a threat? "We'll see" was uttered more than once.
Players said they take note when it's suggested an opponent might be up to the task of taking them down and "take that personally." Then the Wildcats took it out on the Razorbacks at Rupp Arena, roaring to a wide halftime margin and rolling to an 84-67 victory to remain undefeated and clinch the program's 46th Southeastern Conference regular-season title outright.
Kentucky (29-0, 16-0 SEC) is now just two wins away from the becoming the first major-conference team to reach the postseason unblemished since 1976. In six games against ranked opponents, these Cats have trailed for a total of 22 minutes and 11 seconds. Arkansas (23-6, 12-4) was the latest Top-25 victim, although the first in two months, and saw its own seven-game winning streak come to a screeching halt.
Game Rewind | Cats cruise past Arkansas
"I think they were looking forward to this game," coach John Calipari said.
There was revenge on the line and the Cats exacted it swiftly. The Hogs had won three in a row in the series, including a sweep of both meetings last season.
"I'm sure they were kind of pissed off about that," Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. "I thought we'd give Kentucky a little better run for their money in this game, but it seemed like they came out real focused."
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The home team never trailed, led 11-2 in a blink, doubled up the Razorbacks 32-16 in just 15 minutes and took a 42-26 margin into intermission.
The Wildcats did all this with 6-foot-11 Karl-Anthony Towns, the potential No. 1 pick in the next NBA draft, sitting on the bench with two fouls for the final 16:41 of the first half. They did it with freshman Trey Lyles' offense – he swished 5 of 6 shots and scored 12 of his 18 points before the break – and suffocating defense.
The Razorbacks, who entered as the SEC's top-scoring team at almost 80 points per game, had nearly as many turnovers (seven) as made field goals (eight) by halftime. They shot just 29.6 percent in the first 20 minutes. Junior Willie Cauley-Stein set the tone barely three minutes into the game, cramming Alandise Harris' shot back into his face and staring him down.
Cauley-Stein swatted four shots to go with seven points, nine rebounds, two steals and two assists. Sophomore shooting guard Aaron Harrison swiped five steals in addition to nine points and seven rebounds.
"That proves that we are always up for a challenge," said point guard Andrew Harrison, who matched Lyles with 18 points of his own. "That's a good thing when the better the team you play, the better you play."
Kentucky's lead ballooned as big as 31 with 7:54 to go as a hail of Lyles and Tyler Ulis jump shots rained through the net during a 13-2 run. Rupp roared to life as a packed house realized this team is closing in on history. Only next week's games at Georgia and home against Florida stand in the way.
How to beat these Cats?
"It wasn't what we had today," Anderson said. "I know that."
* Lyes the X-factor indeed. Three days after he scored 18 at Mississippi State and Calipari called the 6-10 rookie forward Kentucky's "X-factor" for the stretch run, Lyles went off again. He hit 8 of 10 shots, scored 18 points, grabbed four rebounds and had a steal.
With NBA scouts watching – 20 of them were credentialed for the game, including Knicks general manager Phil Jackson – he swished jumpers, per usual, but also attacked both the glass and opponents in the paint early.
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Lyles brought the crowd to its feet late in the first half when he skied for an offensive rebound and bounded back up for a violent chin-up on the rim. He dunked four times before the break. Through 24 games, he averaged just 7.5 points. The last two, he's scored 36 and shot 68 percent.
"Honestly, he's terrific," Calipari said. "For his size, the things that he does, I'm saying again: He's the X-factor for us. He's the one that makes us go from pretty good, really good to, 'Uh-oh, what is this I'm watching?' "
* Andrew Harrison keeps rolling. The sophomore point guard, who'd recorded 24 assists to just five turnovers in the previous five games, did the scoring himself this time. He hit 8 of 8 free throws, sank a pair of 3-pointers and scored 18 points.
Harrison has scored in double figures six times in the last 10 games and looks like the supremely confident version of himself we saw during UK's run to the NCAA title game last season. Calipari sees the same, saying he's rapidly approaching exactly what the coach wants from him.
"It's a spirit," Calipari said. "It's a spirit that we all feel when you watch him play (and) all of a sudden you're seeing this guy – this guy is as good as any of them, and he is."
Combine that with the fact that his backup, the freshman Ulis, dropped 14 points and three assists without a turnover Saturday and it appears everything is clicking for the Cats.
Kyle Tucker can be reached at (502) 582-4361. Follow him on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ.
