Eric Musselman believes Kentucky is good enough to win the national title

Arkansas came into Rupp Arena on Saturday and absolutely lit up Kentucky for 102 points. The Razorbacks shot 53 percent from the floor, 41 percent from three, and missed just one of its 28 free-throw attempts. They only turned the ball over 12 times and had one guy (Khalif Battle) explode for 34 points. Arkansas dropped 48 points in the first half and 54 more in the second — a balanced scoring effort.

99 times out of 100, that results in a check in the win column.

But when all that happens against this current group of Kentucky Wildcats, it’s how you pick up the one check in the loss column. This game marked the first time since 1970, per UK statistician Corey Price, that Kentucky has given up 102 points and still come away with a victory.

“Not sure I’ve been around a team that played this hard, went 27 of 28 from the foul line, had 10 steals, 13 assists, and come away with a loss,” Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman said of his group postgame. “But you’re talking about a Kentucky team that can win a national championship.”

Arkansas wasn’t expected to give Kentucky the challenge that it did. The Hogs entered as double-digit underdogs and had just lost to Vanderbilt the previous time out. Meanwhile, Kentucky was coming off impressive back-to-back wins, one against a ranked Alabama team and the other in thrilling fashion on the road. All signs were pointing toward a Wildcat blowout.

Maybe we should know better by now.

And to Arkansas’ credit, they didn’t give up at any point against Kentucky. There were 17 total lead changes. Musselman went as far as to say it was the best his team had played on offense and the hardest his group had fought all season long. And yet, they lost by nine points. Arkansas even led by nine with roughly eight minutes to go.

“Thought it was by far our best offensive game, not even close,” Musselman added. “Thought we played as hard as we played all year. The effort, the focus, the belief, all those things were as good as they’ve been. It was a locker room that pregame thought they were going to win, halftime thought they were going to win, and throughout the course of the huddles.”

But in the end, it didn’t matter how hard Arkansas played. They couldn’t stop Kentucky’s offense. Plain and simple. They couldn’t slow down Rob Dillingham or Zvonimir Ivisic down the stretch. Even with All-American candidate Antonio Reeves on the bench for the final seven minutes, they couldn’t slow down the Wildcats scoring. Not many could, to be fair.

As a team, Kentucky shot 56.7 percent overall, 9-20 (45 percent) from deep, and 34-42 (81 percent) from the charity stripe. Seven different Wildcats reached double-figures in scoring. Nine of them saw at least 10 minutes. That is how you beat a team despite giving up 102 points.

“We had a chance to beat a team that has a chance to win the national championship,” Musselman said.

Not even Arkansas’ best offensive performance of the entire season gave them enough of a chance to beat Kentucky on Saturday, though.