It definitely was more like the Arkansas Razorbacks’ early days in the SEC when Nolan Richardson was storming the sidelines and racking up championship rings.
The first time the Razorbacks beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena — during a late timeout with seconds to play — he told his team to get off the court and into the locker room.
He did that to protect his players because he didn’t know what might happen.
Tuesday night in a game that was tied six times and had 13 lead changes — the last coming with about four seconds to play — the Razorbacks celebrated briefly after Davonte Davis’ steal saved an 81-80 win.
The muted celebration took place under their goal near an exit.
Although the Razorbacks are improving under second-year Coach Eric Musselman, the mighty Wildcats are in unfamiliar territory.
They are too talented to be in 11th place in the SEC standings with a 4-7 conference record and 5-13 overall record. With six games remaining for Kentucky, it will finish the regular season with a losing record.
That’s unheard of in the Bluegrass State.
Historically they are the thoroughbreds of SEC basketball running against allowance and claiming horses.
Kentucky’s only hope to make the NCAA Tournament is to win the SEC Tournament. The Wildcats even look like a long shot to get invited to the National Insignificant Tournament.
They are not a great shooting team, even though that’s how they dug themselves out of a hole against the Hogs.
Down 12, they started burying threes that were wide open because Musselman had prepared his team to protect the paint. And why wouldn’t he? The Wildcats were 13th in the SEC by shooting 29.8% behind he arc.
A three-pointer with 14 seconds left gave Kentucky an 80-79 lead.
That was when the Razorbacks grew up a little more.
That was when they decided to find a way to win instead of lose.
Arkansas missed a shot, but graduate transfer Jalen Tate grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 4.3 seconds left.
Tate grew up on basketball. His father, Jermaine, played for Ohio State and had a 13-year professional career overseas.
Tate has been a better-than-expected addition to the Razorbacks roster. He’s the best defender on the team, but he’s also averaging 10.9 points per game. He leads the team in assists with 88 and steals with 29.
He was smiling when he went to the line to shoot two free throws. He was that confident.
He made them both, and Kentucky’s second pass was intercepted by Davis as time expired on the Wildcats in Rupp Arena.
Because Arkansas is a Quad 1 opponent, the Wildcats moved up in the NET rankings from No. 81 to No. 80.
Because Kentucky is a different team now, the Hogs’ win left them at No. 28.
The Wildcats have talent, and they play very good defense. They held Arkansas to 43.5% from the floor, and for a change they shot well from three-point land by hitting 14 of 26.
What they don’t seem to have is the big blue swagger or chemistry.
It is up to Coach John Calipari to fix those things. That’s why he is paid $9 million a year.
The Razorbacks were mostly unselfish and played a little better defense than the Wildcats, which helped the Hogs overcome a 42-33 rebound deficit.
Defense and hustle allowed the Hogs to turn 11 Kentucky turnovers into 12 points. Arkansas had only six turnovers and the Wildcats scored just four points off of them.
Now the Hogs go to Missouri for their biggest game of the season on Saturday. That seems odd to write.