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Cats' rebounding the difference Published: Sunday, February 24, 2008 PRINT E-MAIL LEXINGTON, Ky. - Kentucky forward Perry Stevenson had more offensive rebounds than Arkansas' entire team Saturday. Perry, a 6-9 sophomore, finished with four offensive rebounds and seven total, helping the Wildcats outrebound the Razorbacks 38-23 while winning 63-58 at Rupp Arena. Kentucky 6-8 freshman forward Patrick Patterson finished with a game-high 11 rebounds. "We went after the ball hard," Stevenson said. "We just assumed every shot was going to be a miss and went after it." Not a bad strategy considering Kentucky shot 40 percent from the field and Arkansas 41. 7.
Patrick Beverley, a 6-1 sophomore guard, led Arkansas with six rebounds, and the Razorbacks combined for three offensive rebounds. "I can't believe they only got three offensive rebounds," Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie said. "Them not being able to get offensive rebounds was the difference in the game." Kentucky's 13-3 edge in offensive rebounds helped the Wildcats outscore Arkansas 12-1 on second-chance points. "Everybody talks about our advantage up front, and you didn't see that today," Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said. "I'm still waiting for this great frontcourt we've been talking about... I hear all this talk about pros and stuff. " Well, pros are supposed to get offensive rebounds." Arkansas' front-line players include 7-1 senior Steven Hill, 6-10 senior Darian Townes, 6-8 senior Charles Thomas, 6-10 sophomore Michael Washington and 6-10 senior Vincent Hunter. "I think the offensive rebounding swung the battle," Pelphrey said. "They won it there, they beat us there. We got outplayed up front in the category of offensive rebounding." In SEC play coming into Saturday game, Kentucky was at plus-3. 1 in rebounding margin compared to plus-3. 0 for Arkansas, but it wasn't close Saturday. "We'd get a stop and then they'd get a rebound and get another possession to score, so it's not really a stop," said Hill, who had three rebounds in 18 minutes. "In a tight game, that really kills you. " They crash the boards really, really hard. We needed to do a better job of blocking out." It was the ninth time Arkansas has been outrebounded in 26 games, and the 15-rebound difference was the largest margin this season by an opponent. The previous largest margin was 33-22 in a 71-67 loss to Appalachian State, but in that game, the Razorbacks missed 21 more shots than the Moutaineers. Kentucky missed two more shots than Arkansas. "We wanted to put a man on our back and go straight to the ball," Patterson said. "We know they're a great athletic team. We know they're real tall and lanky... but we just really wanted to rebound it today. " I think it comes down to effort and who wants it more. I think we just wanted it more." Yesterday's Most Popular 1. Pelphrey expects Monk to join team 2. Pelphrey: Early signees fill Razorbacks’ needs 3. Neck and neck : Brothers split snaps at quarterback in Tuesday practice 4. ARKANSAS AT MISSISSIPPI STATE : Brother vs. brother 5. Hogs’ signees pass eye test, coach says Today's Most E-mailed 1. LIKE IT IS : Arkansas made right choice in hiring Petrino 3. Razorbacks face Princeton clone 4. Richardson, 6 others to be inducted into College Basketball Hall of Fame 5. SEC report |
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