LEXINGTON, Ky. — Arkansas suffered a setback Saturday afternoon, but it could have been much worse against the nation's best team.
After trailing by 31 points with eight minutes remaining, the Razorbacks were able to make a run and avoid its most lopsided loss of the season.
The run – a 20-7 spurt – capped a second half in which Arkansas was outscored by one point. The Razorbacks trailed by 16 at halftime.
Although it didn’t change the result, Arkansas coach Mike Anderson was encouraged by what he saw from his team when it could have folded completely.
“I was disappointed in the outcome, but I was not disappointed by the effort,” Anderson said. “We came out at halftime and gave a better effort, but we were always fighting uphill.”
The Razorbacks could not find their rhythm in the first half and it showed in their statistics. They shot just 29.6 percent overall and missed all nine of their 3-point attempts. They also failed to make consecutive shot attempts in the first half.
Despite the poor shooting performance, Arkansas managed to keep Kentucky within 10 points until the 9:15 mark. The Wildcats’ lead reached 16 points before a 7-0 run by Arkansas cut it back down to single digits.
As was the theme all afternoon, the Razorbacks couldn’t maintain the momentum. Kentucky ended the first half on a 6-0 run to take a 42-26 lead into the locker room.
Coming out of halftime, Arkansas was able to pull within 13 points twice, but that was as close as it got. The 17-point loss was the Razorbacks' worse since a 95-77 loss to Iowa State in December.
“I’m actually proud of our guys for not putting our heads down, because it could have gotten real ugly,” said Michael Qualls, who scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half. “It’s a game of runs, especially in a big atmosphere, a big environment like that.”
The Razorbacks still have plenty to play for this regular season. Arkansas closes the scheduled with games against South Carolina and LSU before the SEC Tournament in Nashville.
The Razorbacks are in good shape to earn a double-bye in Nashville.
“All good teams get knocked down in the season,” Arkansas forward Bobby Portis said. “Now it’s our time to get back up Thursday.”