FAYETTEVILLE — Unrelenting and unselfish was the difference in Saturday’s game between Kentucky and Arkansas.
The Razorbacks were both, while the Wildcats showed little reason to be considered an NCAA Tournament team as they never established their half-court offense against the Hogs’ constant defensive pounding.
The outstanding player was not a Kentucky one-and-done blue blood, but Arkansas junior Coty Clarke, a junior-college transfer, who scored 14 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and had 6 assists and 3 steals.
No one would ever confuse Saturday with the high octane games of the past, but fans were holding up fingers outside Walton Arena imploring someone to sell them tickets to the game.
Many of those who planned ahead lined up early to get to their seats and watch warmups.
Maybe it wasn’t like most of the 1990s, when this was a national story of such significance in 1995 that it was played on Super Bowl Sunday, but it served notice the Razorbacks are headed in the right direction, finally.
Nolan Richardson, who set the standard when he led the Razorbacks to unparalleled success during his 17 years as head coach, was on hand Saturday in the sell-out crowd that came to witness the fastest 40 minutes of basketball, and for most of the game it was a race and Kentucky couldn’t keep up.
There were numerous long-time supporters on hand and a rowdy crowd of students who, win or lose, are the sixth man of this basketball program.
Saying it was a difficult ticket to come by would be like saying there has been a little concern for the national debt.
It might not have been likethe high-stakes showdowns of the past, but pride is always on the line when the Wildcats and Hogs meet. That goes back to Arkansas’ first year in the SEC, when it actually brought more fans to the SEC Tournament in Birmingham, Ala., than Kentucky.
There is a reason the SEC Tournament has been called the Kentucky Invitational for years.
Yet the game was big enough Saturday, and it was almost a perfect first half for the Hogs as they got down and dirty and played Hawgball. It took the Hogs about a minute to start slapping the Wildcats in the face, and they didn’t let up.
This John Calipari team is uncharacteristic of him; it is a finesse team that lost its best player, Nerlens Noel, less than three weeks ago.
Kentucky struggled and almost panicked against the Razorbacks’ defense, and by halftime Calipari had tried numerous combinations to find some consistency against the Hogs’ pressure defense. The second half was more of the same.
The usually composed Wildcats even struggled in bounding the ball.
Arkansas led 32-29 at the half, and the Hogs had 13 points off turnovers to zero for the visitors and would finish with an advantage.
The Razorbacks took 69 shots from the field to the Wildcats’ 43, and the Hogs outscored them 30-2 on points off turnovers.
It might not have been Arkansas’ best game this season, but it was the kind that made Walton Arena famous. It was ugly, Hawgball ugly, which is beautiful in the eye of the beholder, Anderson and the Razorbacks Nation.
There was no drop-off in the second half. The Hogs sucked the breath out of the Wildcats as they contested almost every dribble and pass. The longer it went on the more obvious it became; in Walton Arena, the Razorbacks ruled in a game that will become significant again.
Sports, Pages 27 on 03/03/2013