KSR's top takeaways from Kentucky's 75-73 loss at Arkansas

Kentucky’s couldn’t get it done on the road, falling to the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville by a final score of 75-73 to move to 23-6 overall and 12-4 in the conference. It was a loss that — for now — pushed the Wildcats down to No. 4 in the SEC standings, with Auburn sitting at No. 1, Arkansas now coming in at No. 2, and Tennessee moving up to No. 3.

How did the loss come together? And what does it mean for the Wildcats as they look ahead to their home matchup against Ole Miss on Tuesday?

Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington return from injury

Kentucky’s two primary ball-handlers returned to the rotation after a two-game hiatus, with Sahvir Wheeler (wrist) and TyTy Washington (ankle) both suiting up for the first time since UK’s trip to Knoxville on February 15.

Neither player started the game — Davion Mintz and Kellan Grady got things rolling, just as they did against Alabama and LSU — but they still saw the bulk of the backcourt minutes in their return to game action. Washington was second on the team in minutes with 35, with Wheeler also playing 29 total minutes.

How did they do? There was clear rust to start the game, with the duo combining for just six points on 2-11 in the first half. As for the injuries, both players came up favoring their hurt extremities early, but seemed to finish strong. That was reflected in the box score, as well, as Wheeler and Washington combined for 18 points (6-14 FG, 3-4 FT), six assists and just one turnover in the second half.

When all else fails, go to Oscar Tshiebwe

Kentucky simply couldn’t buy a basket in the first half, with Wheeler, Washington, Mintz, Grady, Keion Brooks Jr. and Jacob Toppin combining for just 6-23 from the field and 0-8 from three in the first 20 minutes.

How, then, did Kentucky trail by just six going into the break? Oscar Tshiebwe, of course.

The 6-foot-9 center absolutely dominated the paint in the first half, finishing with 14 points (5-10 FG, 4-7 FT) and 12 rebounds in 19 minutes. He had his 23rd double-double of the season before the second half was even played.

Would Tshiebwe slow down after the break? Of course not. Kentucky’s anchor in the middle was even more impressive in the second half, adding 16 points to give him 30 on the day, shooting 13-21 from the field and 4-7 from the line. He also finished with 18 rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal in the loss. With the 30-point, 18-rebound effort, Tshiebwe became the first UK player to hit those marks in an SEC road game since Dan Issel (53 points, 19 rebounds at Ole Miss on Feb. 7, 1970).

Kentucky came away with a loss, but it was a performance that likely solidified Tshiebwe’s status as the National Player of the Year. No player in college basketball has dominated from start to finish the way he has.

Another comeback effort, but the Wildcats come up short late

Kentucky trailed by 13 against Alabama and 11 against LSU, with the Wildcats coming back to win both matchups at home. This time around, UK found itself down by 13 once again at Arkansas, trailing the Razorbacks 32-19 with 4:11 to go in the first half.

From there, Kentucky closed out the half on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to just six points at the break, setting up a manageable comeback opportunity in the second half. Just like the previous two games, the Wildcats stormed back to retake the lead, this time with 14:54 to go — the team’s first lead since its 2-0 start.

From there, it was a back-and-forth matchup the rest of the way, with neither team extending the lead to greater than five points down the stretch. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, their last lead would come with 2:21 to go (70-69), with the Razorbacks going on a 6-0 run to put the game out of reach in the final 1:22. Kentucky had its chances, but missed four shots and turned the ball over twice in the last two minutes.

The most crushing stretch came between the 1:03 and :23 marks, with Brooks being called for an offensive foul on an inbounds pass, resulting in a turnover down one point. Wheeler was then called for a foul on a drive by Arkansas’ Jaylin Williams, who knocked down both free throws to extend the lead to three. Coming out of a 30-second timeout, Brooks launched and missed a three from the right wing, rebounded by the Razorbacks with 16 seconds to go.

Quick foul, made free throw to give Arkansas a four-point lead, game over. The Razorbacks would make one final free throw, followed by a three at the buzzer by Washington, but the game was decided at that point.

Kentucky made the comeback, but couldn’t close things out down the stretch.

JD Notae makes a statement

Arkansas star guard JD Notae entered the game ranked second in the SEC in scoring, averaging 18.7 points per contest. He practically hit that mark in the first half alone, finishing with 18 points (8-14 FG) and three assists in 18 minutes.

Knocking down shots at all three levels, Notae single-handedly willed the Razorbacks from start to finish, finishing with 30 points on 13-26 shooting to go with eight assists, one rebound, one block and one steal. When Arkansas needed a big bucket, Notae was there for the first 31 minutes of the game.

Following a made layup with 8:51 to go in the game, though, Kentucky held the standout guard to zero points on 0-3 shooting. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Arkansas had three different players make a basket (Williams, Kamani Johnson and Stanley Umude) and a fourth knock down five free throws (Davonte Davis) in his absence.

Notae did his damage early, while his teammates did all of the heavy lifting late.

“They’re a good team,” John Calipari said after the loss. “They went through Notae, and he did pretty good.”

Three shot attempts for Kellan Grady

Two fouls took Kellan Grady out of the game after just ten minutes in the first half. At that point, he had taken just one shot to go with one rebound, one assist and one steal. With Kentucky looking for an offensive spark in the second half, Grady was the easy solution after dealing with early foul trouble.

On paper he was, at least.

After 17:39 of game time, Grady finally took his second shot of the game, a made 3-pointer from the left corner to give Kentucky a 70-69 lead. He took another with six seconds to go, but the Wildcats were down four and the game was essentially decided at that point.

It was the fewest shot attempts Grady has taken in a game since Kentucky’s win over Ohio back on November 19. The reasoning for it? Calipari says the fifth-year guard wasn’t working hard enough to earn shots.

“He did not work until the very last three,” Calipari said. “I kept saying, ‘When Oscar gets it, why are you standing?’ The last play, pull it up on the tape. He went four steps out, raced to the corner and got a wide-open shot. It’s the only time all game he did it. I said it in every huddle, ten times during the game. Him and Davion both, they just stood on the perimeter.”

As for Mintz, he finished the day with just two shot attempts, as well. Zero points in 19 minutes for the sixth-year senior. A combined 1-5 from the two oldest players on the team simply won’t cut it.

A difficult predicament now in the SEC standings

With a win at Arkansas, Kentucky remained in serious contention for the co-SEC regular-season title with Auburn. Two slip-ups in the Tigers’ final three games could have given the Wildcats the title outright.

Instead, the SEC standings are a mess up top, especially following Tennessee’s home win over Auburn this afternoon. Auburn now sits at No. 1 (25-4, 13-3), followed by a three-way tie between Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee at No. 2. Due to tiebreakers, though, Kentucky’s head-to-head losses at Arkansas and Tennessee move them down to No. 4 in the SEC. The Razorbacks now sit at No. 2, followed by the Volunteers at No. 3.

What does this mean for Kentucky? At worst, the Wildcats will finish No. 3 in the conference if they take care of business vs. Ole Miss and at Florida. With Arkansas taking on Tennessee to close out the regular season, one of those teams will drop to No. 4 in the final SEC rankings.

A No. 2 seed remains on the table for Kentucky, though. If Arkansas beats Tennessee and loses to LSU, the Wildcats jump back to No. 2. The same can be said if the Volunteers lose vs. Georgia and then beat the Razorbacks.

Want to get even wackier? Kentucky can jump all the way up to No. 1 if Auburn loses to Mississippi State and South Carolina, but only if Arkansas and Tennessee win and lose one game each.

In short, rather than controlling their own destiny down the stretch, the Wildcats now will have to rely on some luck to finish as a top-two seed in Tampa.