What started out as a laugher became as intense as any regular season game you’ll ever watch. Arkansas started scorching hot, Kentucky closed the first half strong and opened the second half even stronger. But in the end it was the 18th ranked Arkansas Razorbacks who showed the grit they’ve displayed game in and game out over the past two months. The lessons learned through those games and a star turn by J.D. Notae propelled the Hogs to a 75-73 win over the 6th ranked Wildcats.
The only thing hotter and more intense than the crowd at Bud Walton Arena on Saturday was Notae. The SEC’s second-leading scorer dominated the first half, scoring 18 in the first half. He would end the game with 30 points. The visiting Kentucky Wildcats scored the first bucket of the game before Arkansas built a double-digit lead by going on a 15-0 run before Kentucky final scored again at the 12:39 mark.
Kentucky responded by steadily chipping away at the Arkansas lead, thanks almost entirely to National and SEC Player of the Year candidate Oscar Tshiebwe. Sometimes the legend of a player can overshadow his performance. That is not the case with Tshiebwe. He single-handedly kept the Wildcats in the game early, scoring the team’s first 8 points. By the end of the first half he’d already notched a double-double, scoring 14 while grabbing 12 rebounds. Despite his efforts the Hogs maintained their 10+ point lead for much of the first half before Kentucky closed on a 6-0 run to cut the margin to 34-28 at halftime.
Neither team would go away when it looked like the chips were down. Kentucky never led by more than 4 points. That occurred at the 9:35 mark of the second half, and Arkansas immediately answered by scoring four consecutive points. It wasn’t until inside the final minute of play that Arkansas finally stretched its lead beyond one possession. The Hogs regained the lead with 1:22 to play on a Jaylin Williams jumper, putting the Hogs up 71-10. They would not look back after that shot. Williams sank a pair of freebies with 0:36 on the clock, and followed by a pair of charity shots from Devontae Davis in two different trips. By the time TyTy Washington sank his desperation 3 at the buzzer, the game had been decided.
Tshiebwe led Kentucky with 30 points and 18 rebounds. Jaylin Williams, who trails only Tshiebwe in rebounds per game in the conference, had 12 boards of his own to go along with 16 points.
***NOTE*** The final shot was not meaningless to some. Arkansas went off as a 2.5-point favorite. The final score, Arkansas 75 – Kentucky 72.