FAYETTEVILLE — Kentucky’s struggles this season have no bearing on what kind of preparation the University of Arkansas will put in for tonight’s game at Rupp Arena, Coach Eric Musselman said.
The Wildcats, 5-12 overall, have a 3-4 record at home this season, including losses to Richmond, Notre Dame, Alabama and Tennessee.
Arkansas has lost three games in a row at Rupp since the Razorbacks went 16 of 16 at the free-throw line in a 71-67 decision in overtime on Feb. 27, 2014.
“As a coach, your prep is the same,” Musselman said. “I think when you say the word ‘Kentucky,’ I don’t have to oversell their talent. I don’t have to oversell how hard it is to go into their building and win.
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“Our players are smart. They understand that. They understand the level of McDonald’s All-Americans or the level of their talent. I think from that aspect, it’s a little bit different, but as far as the number of baseline out-of-bounds plays that we’re defending, the number of half-court plays that we’re defending, and the themes that we’re trying to come up with on their top three or four players, I think all those things remain very, very consistent in our approach.”
Pushing back
There has been some discussion about the viability and wisdom of conference tournaments this season with the NCAA requiring seven consecutive days of negative testing to allow teams into the NCAA Tournament “bubble” that will be created in Indianapolis for the event.
There has even been talk of some teams who are considered NCAA Tournament locks opting out of their league tourneys. Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman would not be in that group.
“I think it’s pretty obvious that I want to play,” Musselman said. “I wish we had 30 games instead of the 27 [allowed] by the NCAA. I wish we would have started on time and not pushed it back.
“I don’t know what pushing it back did. I have no idea. Football was playing. Why was it pushed back? … Other sports are playing and all of a sudden we decide we’re going to push it back two weeks? For what? I think we owe it to the student-athletes to have as much normalcy as we can, to play as many games as we can.”
Health update
Arkansas guard Desi Sills will be questionable for the game against Kentucky. He took a hard fall onto his left (shooting) arm in the first half of last Tuesday’s 61-45 win over Mississippi State and did not return.
Coach Eric Musselman said he probably would have been doubtful with a stinger had the Razorbacks been able to host Texas A&M on Saturday.
Forward Justin Smith and guard Moses Moody are both expected to play with extra days to rest and rehabilitate ankle injuries.
Forward Jaylin Williams is probable (knee) but might face limited minutes after playing nine minutes last week.
Musselman said team doctors and the athletic training staff would like to see more strength out of Abayomi Iyiola’s knee before turning him loose in games. Iyiola went through limited three-on-three work after practice late last week, but is still a few weeks away from being cleared.
Who’s up?
Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman is reluctant to ever say he’s decided on a starting lineup. For instance, he was asked whether freshman Davonte “Devo” Davis had done enough at off guard to start in case junior Desi Sills is still slowed by his left arm injury.
“We’ve changed our starting lineup a lot of times based on matchups, a lot of times based on injuries as well,” Musselman said Saturday. “Who we start Tuesday is not to be determined right now, because we haven’t had everybody at practice the last couple days. And our game plan is still evolving as we go through some of their sets and look at plan A, plan B and plan C on how to defend some things.
“Not sure who will start, but certainly Devo’s done a great job continuing to develop during the course of this season.”
Late lapses
Kentucky was outscored 34-13 by Tennessee in the final 12 minutes of its 82-71 loss to the Volunteers on Saturday at Rupp Arena.
That was just the latest in a series of late-game failures by Kentucky, which fell to 5-12 overall, 4-6 in the SEC.
“We’re just not executing. It’s not because we’re nervous or anything,” guard Keion Brooks said. “Once stuff starts to hit the fan, we don’t know how to snap back and be like, ‘Ok, we’re going to get the best shot, we’re going to get a stop, we’re going to take care of the ball.’
“I don’t think anyone is scared … we’re just not disciplined enough to close the game out.”
Series update
The Razorbacks will look to break an eight-game losing streak to Kentucky tonight. The Wildcats have won three home games, three road games and a pair of SEC Tournament games in Nashville, Tenn., against Arkansas since the Razorbacks swept two overtime games during the 2013-14 season.
Arkansas won 87-85 at Walton Arena on Michael Qualls’ putback dunk with 1 second left on Jan. 14, then took a 71-67 decision at Rupp Arena on Feb. 27.
Kentucky has won 75% of the games in the series, which it leads 33-11.
Kentucky won 73-66 last season at Walton Arena behind 17 points from Nick Richards, and 13 points each from Immanuel Quickley and Ashton Hagans.
Arkansas rallied from a 38-27 deficit early in the second half into a 47-44 lead after Kentucky Coach John Calipari drew two technical fouls and was ejected.
The Wildcats responded with a 17-2 run to take control at 61-49 over a span of 5:30 with assistant coach Kenny Payne calling the shots. Payne is now an assistant coach with the New York Knicks.