Arkansas runs over Kentucky's lifeless defense in 88-73 loss for the 'Cats

It was a tale of two halves in Lexington on Tuesday night, but neither went in favor of the home team.

After a high-scoring first half saw Kentucky men’s basketball (16-8; 7-4 SEC) trail Arkansas (17-7; 6-5) by just one point at the break, the second half was all Razorbacks as the Wildcats’ defense cost them a chance at seven consecutive SEC victories. Arkansas severely outplayed Kentucky in the final 20 minutes, resulting in a 88-73 win for the Hogs.

Cason Wallace led the way for Kentucky with a stuffed stat line of 24 points, three rebounds, five assists, two steals, and three blocks while fellow freshman Chris Livingston chipped in 13 points and five rebounds. Jacob Toppin and Antonio Reeves both added 11 points apiece.

But their combined effort wouldn’t be nearly enough. Arkansas saw five players finish in double-figure scoring, led by Ricky Council IV and Anthony Black, who went for 20 and 19 points, respectively. The Razorbacks shot 63 percent from the floor (compared to 47 percent for the ‘Cats) and dominated the paint, outscoring UK 46-28 in the lane. Oscar Tshiebwe finished with just seven points and seven rebounds for Kentucky.

From the opening tip, it looked like we were in for a high-scoring affair. Both sides were running a track meet up and down the floor with defense hardly playing a factor. Neither team could break away as the lead swapped back and forth throughout the first half. Every time Arkansas would take a small lead, Kentucky found a way to answer right back.

With roughly five minutes left until halftime, Arkansas took a six-point lead, 32-26, the largest of the night thus far. But a triple from Reeves and a layup by Toppin quickly cut that advantage down to a single point. Wallace and Daimion Collins got in on the action from there, helping Kentucky make it a 41-40 game in favor of the Razorbacks at the intermission, but not before John Calipari was hit with a technical foul for arguing with the referees.

The second half got off to a sloppy start for the ‘Cats as Arkansas rattled off a 6-0 run in under 90 seconds to force an early Kentucky timeout. The Razorbacks would extend its lead to nine on a couple of occasions before UK finally woke back up thanks to two three-pointers from Livingston.

But Arkansas continued to make shots while Kentucky’s defense continued to bleed points. At the under-eight-minute timeout, the ‘Cats trailed 68-58 after giving up several clean shots at the rim. The Hogs would effortlessly make it a 14-point lead out of the timeout and didn’t look back. It would only get worse down the stretch as Arkansas took a 78-62 lead into the final media timeout.

In the end, Kentucky fell by 15 points in a game that was decided at the beginning of the second half.