Monk quiet, but Wildcats hold court and beat Arkansas

Kentucky's Malik Monk, right, and Arkansas' Anton Beard dive for the ball during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017, in Lexington, Ky. (AP Photo/James Crisp)

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- It wasn't the Malik Monk Show Saturday night in Rupp Arena.

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Kentucky's freshman guard, who starred at Bentonville High School and scored 47 points against North Carolina and averaged 30 in his first two SEC games, was held to 12 by Arkansas.

Monk failed to hit a three-point basket for the first time this season, going 0 of 5, and was 4 of 10 from the field after being 19 of 27 in SEC play.

But No. 6 Kentucky has a lot more firepower than Monk.

Point guard De'Aaron Fox -- one of several Wildcats' freshmen expected to be a first-round NBA draft choice after the season -- scored 27 points to lead Kentucky to a 97-71 victory before an announced crowd of 24,322.

"We lost the game," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said when asked if he was satisfied by the defensive effort on Monk. "I'm not satisfied.

"This is Arkansas vs. the University of Kentucky. Not Arkansas vs. Monk.

"Monk's a hell of a player. We know that. I don't think I would have recruited him since he was the ninth grade if I didn't think he was a hell of player.

"So lets gets past that. It's Arkansas vs. Kentucky."

Kentucky Coach John Calipari said he talked to Monk after the game about his offensive struggles.

"I said, 'Look Malik, it's really hard playing the hometown team,' " Calipari said. "It's hard to play those kind of games. You can say it's not hard, but it's really hard.

"He did good, though."

Arkansas senior Manny Watkins guarded Monk at times, helping hold him to two points in the first half.

"None of it really matters because we didn't come out with the win," Watkins said. "Yeah, Malik is from Arkansas, but we didn't read too much into that.

"We did a good job on him, but obviously we didn't do a lot of other things we needed to do to get the win."

Fox, whose previous scoring high was 24 points against North Carolina, said he didn't feel he picked up the slack offensively for Monk being held 11 under his season average.

"Even if he isn't making shots, teams are still going to guard him," Fox said. "So I guess it would be using him as a decoy.

"When things aren't going his way, then it would turn into a one-on-one with my defender, and I think I won that battle a lot."

Fox hit 10 of 16 shots and 7 of 7 free throws and had 6 rebounds and 6 assists in 36 minutes.

"Fox did a good job of controlling the game," Anderson said.

Kentucky senior forward Derek Willis, averaging 6.7 points coming into the game, matched his season high with 15 points. He hit 6 of 8 shots, including 3 of 5 three-pointers.

Willis hit 5 of 8 shots -- and 3 of 5 three-pointers and scored 12 points in the Wildcats' 80-66 victory over Arkansas at Walton Arena last season.

"Willis is the guy that keeps haunting us," Anderson said. "I've watched other games and he doesn't shoot it like that, but when the Razorbacks show up, he plays well."

Kentucky (13-2, 3-0 SEC) led 41-38 at halftime, but dominated the second half, outscoring the Razorbacks 56-33.

"Our guys fought toe-to-toe for the first half, but we all know the game is 40 minutes," Anderson said. "We didn't do our part in the second half.

"They continued to do what they do in the second half."

The Wildcats outscored the Razorbacks 24-4 on fast-break points, including 18-0 in the second half.

Kentucky also had a 21-13 edge in second-chance points thanks to 15 offensive rebounds.

"I think it was really just the offensive rebounds and then transition defense," Watkins said. "We got back better in the first half.

"In the second half, we didn't get back as good. They were pushing it, and even when they missed, they were coming up with the rebounds and then that led to fouls."

The Wildcats hit 28 of 40 free throws compared to 17 of 21 by the Razorbacks.

Arkansas was called for 31 fouls to Kentucky's 20.

"You shoot 40 free throws, man, you're going to win a whole lot of games," Anderson said. "I know they want to clean it up, but that's just going to another level."

Junior guard Daryl Macon led Arkansas (12-3, 1-2) with 15 points. Senior center Moses Kingsley and junior guard Jaylen Barford each scored 14 points.

Arkansas was the last SEC team to beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena, 71-67 in overtime, on Feb. 27, 2014.

The Wildcats have won 21 consecutive SEC home games since then.

"Look, Arkansas is a terrific team," Calipari said. "They played well. They have a great record.

"They're a physical team, and so are we, and it got a little testy."

Tempers flared twice between the players in the second half with coaches needed to come onto the court to help settle things down.

"My team won't be bullied," Calipari said. "This isn't that kind of team.

"The issue is, it gets you more focused, sharper, and more disciplined. That's what good teams are."

Kentucky improved to 127-5 in Rupp Arena in Calipari's eight seasons.

"We'll learn from this game," Anderson said. "We've got a team that's still learning how to play in an environment like this.

"You haven't seen the best of the Razorbacks yet."

Sports on 01/08/2017