BOX SCORE: Arkansas shoots the lights out in Rupp Arena

adamluckettksr

Sometimes basketball can be a simple sport. It truly is about getting buckets and scoring more points than the other team at the end of the day. All signs pointed to Kentucky being that team in Saturday’s matchup with Arkansas.

Games are not won on paper.

The struggling Razorbacks delivered their best performance of the season in a game where they shot the lights out at Rupp Arena. Kentucky’s leaky defense was once again exposed in the program’s fifth loss to an unranked team.

John Calipari’s team scored 89 points in 67 possessions on .552/.520/.750 shooting splits. The Hogs are shooting less than 30 percent from three in SEC play, but that did not stop them from pouring in 13 makes from long range in the 89-79 victory. Adou Thiero led the way with 21 points on 10 field goal attempts, but the other four starters combined to shoot 11-of-20 from three-point range. Former Kentucky players Zvonimir Ivisic (14 points, 4 rebounds, +10) and DJ Wagner (17 points, 8 assists, +5) each arguably had their best performance of the season.

The Hogs were one of the worst offenses in the SEC and posted 1.33 points per possession in the big-time matchup. Kentucky’s defense is a massive issue right now.

Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning

By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.

Kentucky’s offense scored 79 points in 73 possessions but did not have its greatest performance. Turnovers (14) remain an issue. The Cats shot 51.3 percent from two and 43.5 percent from three but that wasn’t enough to win the game. Ball security played a big role. Jaxson Robinson (20 points on 9 field goal attempts) and Amari Williams (22 points on 13 field goal attempts) each had big games, but that production was not enough to get UK over the hump.

Mark Pope‘s offense is going to score on just about everyone in college basketball, but the Cats won’t have an offensive A game every night. Eventually, the defense has to produce. That means generating stops. Kentucky needed that end of the floor to deliver against a bad Arkansas offense.

That did not happen on Saturday night in Rupp Arena.