FAYETTEVILLE — in his final three seasons as a Kentucky basketball player, John Pelphrey tasted defeat just once in SEC play at the Wildcats’ Rupp Arena.

Pelphrey recalled on Monday that the Arkansas Razorbacks “broke my heart” his senior year in 1992 when the SEC newcomers roared into Rupp Arena and beat Kentucky 105-88 before a stunned crowd of 24, 324.

Arkansas came into the game ranked No. 8 in The Associated Press poll, but Kentucky was No. 9 and 20-0 in SEC home games under third-year Coach Rick Pitino.

“It was frustrating,” said Pelphrey, who rehashed the game after being announced as Arkansas’ coach in a news conference at Walton Arena. “Basically, we couldn’t guard them the last four minutes of the game.”

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Pelphrey, a 6-7 forward, scored 22 points in 34 minutes and hit 8 of 12 field goal attempts, including 5 of 6 three-pointers. He hit a 20-foot jumper to pull the Wildcats within 84-81 with 4: 48 left, but Arkansas f inished the game by outscoring Kentucky 21-7.

Razorbacks point guard Lee Mayberry, who scored a game-high 23 points, hit 8 of 8 free throws in the final 4: 04.

“[Arkansas ] Coach [Nolan ] Richardson got everybody spread out and I kept getting matched up on Lee Mayberry,” Pelphrey said. “And he kept going by me at the end of the shot clock.”

It was the only time Pelphrey faced Arkansas as a player, but he said he quickly became an admirer of Richardson and the Razorbacks.

“Coach Richardson, I always admired and respected him,” Pelphrey said. “I loved his style of play — ‘40 Minutes of Hell.’ I really had a great admiration for how hard his teams played and certainly the way they won.”