Arkansas rides best players to huge home victory over Kentucky

Eric Musselman’s third Arkansas team entered Saturday’s contest with Kentucky as one of the hottest teams in college basketball. The Hogs were 12-1 in their last 13 games with victories over both Auburn and Tennessee at Bud Walton Arena. The only defeat in that stretch was a one-point loss on the road to Alabama.

Arkansas is getting that excellent play thanks to two legitimate All-SEC candidates — JD Notae and Jaylin Williams. That twosome stole the show at Bud Walton Arena as the duo willed the Hogs to a 75-73 win in front of 19,200 fans in Fayetteville.

As we all digest what just happened in Kentucky’s sixth loss of the season, KSR is going to dive into the box score and pull out the numbers that made the difference. However, this result wasn’t too hard to figure out.

Big-time players in big-time games

Oscar Tshiebwe is the frontrunner for National Player of the Year honors. Everyone knows this. The junior big backed that up against Arkansas as the West Virginia transfer went for 30 points and 18 rebounds in 39 minutes. Tshiebwe has been a force all year, but Arkansas also has some big-time players.

Both shined in the victory over Kentucky.

Combo guard JD Notae is well on this way to first-team All-SEC honors, and last year’s Sixth Man of the Year in the conference just had his best game as a Razorback. The redshirt senior finished the game with 30 points on 26 field goal attempts, dished out eight assists, and played 38 minutes. Notae got off to a very hot start, and his 18 points in the first half allowed the Hogs to build an early lead.

Five-man Jaylin Williams might be the most versatile player in the SEC. The 6-foot-10 athlete nearly averages a double-double per night while also stuffing the stat sheet with assists, blocks, and steals. Against Kentucky, it was the sophomore’s offense that stole the show.

With Kentucky set on slowing down Notae after the halftime break, Williams went for 12 points in the second half and got the Hogs some very key buckets in crunch time. For the game, the big man finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds to go along with two steals.

In the biggest game of the season, the best two players for Arkansas rose to the occasion, and their contributions allowed Eric Musselman’s team to record a huge home win to bolster their NCAA Tournament resume.

Kentucky unable to climb out of this slow start

For the third game in a row, Kentucky’s starting lineup did not feature TyTy Washington or Sahvir Wheeler. For the third game in a row, Kentucky got in a huge hole early.

The Wildcats were again able to climb out of this one, but if avoided, the team probably wins the game at Bud Walton Arena.

After taking a 2-0 lead early, Arkansas responded with a 15-0 run to get the arena jumping in Fayetteville. The Wildcats went nearly six minutes without a field goal. Soon after the run started, John Calipari put Washington and Wheeler in the game, but it took some time for the team to climb out of the hole.

Once out of it, the teams traded blows in the second half, but that early cushion gave Arkansas enough to absorb big Kentucky runs that occurred later in the game. Starting games poorly is now becoming a trend, but Washington and Wheeler should return to the starting lineup on Tuesday against Ole Miss.

Kellan Grady needs more looks

When looking at the final box score, one of the biggest issues is the lack of shot volume for super senior Kellan Grady. The Davidson transfer played 30 minutes but attempted just three shots in the game. That cannot happen.

Arkansas does have multiple big, athletic wings and they all did a great job of tagging Grady on defense and making sure that the sharpshooter did not get loose. However, Kentucky must do a better job at getting Grady open and getting him shots off since he is one of the team’s most dynamic weapons.

The three field goal attempts were Grady’s lowest amount in a game since a win over Ohio on Nov. 19, and that simply cannot happen again.

Stats that stood out

• After the rust came off of TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler, Kentucky put up 45 points in the second half with 1.32 points per possession. That was against one of the top defenses in college basketball. Those results tell us that the Wildcats are still one of the better offenses in the country.
• The in-between game got to Kentucky on the other end. Arkansas finished the guy averaging 1.09 points per possession but got there in odd ways. Eric Musselman’s team was just 13 of 25 on shots at the rim, but the team still shot 57.5 percent from two. The Hogs were excellent in the mid-range thanks to JD Notae and Jaylin Williams.
• Believe it or not, Wheeler is now shooting 41.2 percent from three in SEC games. The point guard went for 14 points on 13 shots and dished out five assists. The game was a roller coaster, but Kentucky’s lead guard started to regain some of his swagger in the second half.
• Kentucky desperately needs some secondary scoring from Davion Mintz. Without it, the Wildcats get nothing off the bench. The super senior posted a donut in 19 minutes against Arkansas. Kentucky needs more from the veteran.