FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas had a chance to make a statement Tuesday night at Bud Walton Arena with Kentucky in the building and the vast majority of 18,083 fans rooting on the Razorbacks.
But it was the visitors - who have resurrected themselves from a unWildcat-like four-game losing streak with two straight victories - who ended up making the biggest statement.
Riding the strength of a 46-29 rebounding advantage, Kentucky roared back from an 11-0 deficit and ended up walking out with a convincing 87-72 road win.
The Wildcats (19-9, 8-7) raced away when the Razorbacks (19-9, 8-7) - who had won an SEC-best four games in a row - failed to score for over four minutes during the second half and watched a 61-56 lead eventually turn into an 81-65 deficit.
“It just seemed like we had some big lulls in the game,” Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson said. “But the game came down to, defensively we didn’t do a good job stopping them and we didn’t score. Sometimes that starts to affect your defense and I thought our defense was not up to standards from doing what they want to do.
“And they attacked the glass. I thought rebounding was a big part of the game here and their bench outplayed our bench.”
Kentucky grabbed 43 of the game’s last 63 rebounds and had a 38-6 edge in bench points with Jarred Vanderbilt and PJ Washington combining for 24 points and 19 rebounds in reserve roles.
“I think it (the difference) was when Jarred and P.J. went in and then we rebounded,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari said. “…We are getting better because we have settled in on how we are playing. There were times they looked confused. You know why? Because they were and I have just tried to make it clear how we need to play and why we need to play that way.”
Calipari thinks the four-game losing streak may help Kentucky in the long run.
“The best thing that happened to this team was losing four in a row,” Calipari said. “They needed that. Then we added Jarred (in January after a preseason injury). We were discombobulated. But now there is not as much confusion. I am still fighting some guys and I am telling them I am doing this for them.
“Today we made shots. When we made shots, we can beat just about anybody.”
It was the second time in the last five visits to Arkansas that Kentucky walked away with a win.
Daryl Macon led Arkansas with 26 points while Anton Beard had 13 and Jaylen Barford 12 on a 4-of-16 shooting night.
Freshman center Daniel Gafford had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks while Dustin Thomas had 6 points and 10 rebounds in a foul-plagued 20 minutes.
“We beat ourselves,” Macon said. “They went on a run and we didn’t come down and execute. It was nothing they were doing. Like I said, we beat ourselves.”
Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Mississippi State are all now tied for fifth in the league.
The Wildcats were one of three SEC road teams to win on Tuesday in four opportunities with Ole Miss downing host Missouri and Mississippi State ending up victorious at Texas A&M.
“I am slowly starting to figure out this team and I am happy the direction we are going, but this league is a bear,” Calipari said. “I mean Arkansas is an NCAA Tournament team and probably I am going to guess a top six or seven seed.
“Now they have to finish and win some games from here on, but we are playing all these teams and I am like ‘Holy Cow’…This is by far the toughest and the most balance.”
He was then informed of the Ole Miss win at Missouri and Mississippi State’s win at Texas A&M.
“What in the world?,” Calipari asked. “Please. This should not hurt our league, it should help our league. In other leagues, they beat each other up and they all rise and it’s like ‘we’ve got nine teams in.’ Why don’t we have nine teams in. We should have nine teams in.”
Kevin Knox led Kentucky with 23 points while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 18 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds.
“It was a great team win. We are still trying to put it together, but we made shots today. When we are making shots we can beat anybody in the country,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They came out hot but we stuck with the game plan coach gave us and got it done.”
Calipari was pleased with the win in a place that has been tough for his teams to come out victorious.
“This a hard place to play,” Calipari said. “Thank God it rained like it did because it probably kept some people away. For us to do this as a young team is great.”
“The thing I can’t do for these kids is there are experiences they have to live that I can not talk them through,” Calipari said. “When you are playing all freshmen - let me make that statement again all freshmen - there is experiences they have to go through and one of them is being down 11-0 on the road to a team that was so hyped to play this game that it was crazy.”