Watch the Tape: Arkansas Razorbacks

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Losing is never fun. The Kentucky Wildcats gave the Arkansas Razorbacks everything they wanted on Saturday afternoon, but came up short in their comeback attempt losing 75-73. All six of the top-ranked teams in college basketball lost on Saturday, so there may not be many NCAA Tournament repercussions to the loss, but the Wildcats are now in danger of falling seed lines in the SEC Tournament. There is still one week to play in the regular season so it will all play itself out.

Kentucky turned a 32-19 deficit at the four-minute mark into a six-point game at the halftime break. The lead went back and forth in the second half, but the ‘Cats weren’t able to come away victorious at Bud Walton Arena. The last week of the season will bring major SEC and NCAA Tournament implications now that Kentucky is in a three-way tie with Tennessee and Arkansas. A lot of possibilities are on the table.

As we do after each game, it is time to step inside the KSR Film Room and break down the tape of Arkansas’ win over Kentucky in Fayetteville. UK’s first-half defense left a little to be desired, there were too many bad shots taken, and, yes, the officiating played a factor. Let’s take a look back at the film and see what led to Saturday’s loss against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Poor Shot Selection

Missed shots can be as bad as turnovers in some instances. There comes a time when your percentages are what they say you are. February is absolutely that time. Sahvir Wheeler should not be shooting jump shots for Kentucky and his willingness to do so hurt UK’s chances against the Razorbacks. It was equal opportunity when it came to bad shot selection though. The Wildcats simply need to not waste possessions as we will see in these clips.

The “you don’t have to make them all, but you can’t miss them all” Coach Calipari quote can be extended to this clip. If you are going to shoot 3-pointers you simply cannot miss them this bad. This is a really good attack in transition, a great offensive rebound, but it is followed by a bad shot. After all of that hard work, you can’t miss a 3-pointer by five feet with 17 seconds on the shot clock.

Sometimes bad shots come as the result of not taking good shots. When Oscar Tshiebwe has two feet in the paint he has to get the basketball. Not feeding him the ball for an easy left shoulder hook shot led to an unnecessary Sahvir Wheeler missed 3 with 20 seconds on the shot clock. This is a shot that should only ever be taken with less than three seconds on the clock.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are good enough defensively that you don’t need to bail them out. This possession essentially allows them to get a stop without having to guard at all. A Sahvir Wheeler jump shot with 22 seconds on the shot clock is the same as a turnover.

Officiating Played a Role

We generally shy away from calling out officiating here at Kentucky Sports Radio. It is a losing battle 100% of the time. However, at Arkansas on Saturday, it was really bad in the first half and led to Kentucky trailing by more than they should have. Here are some of the most egregious calls that were/weren’t made in Fayetteville.

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This is quite simply not a foul on Kellan Grady. He is in the restricted arc but he jumps and is clearly straight up. That is not a foul. The whistle doesn’t even blow until after the shot is missed. Veteran official and former NCAA Coordinator of Officials John Adams agrees as well.

Once you are into your gather the defender cannot slide underneath you. This should have been two points for Davion Mintz that were waved off. By the way, Kentucky lost by two points. When the offensive player is into his shot attempt we should not be rewarding defenders for sliding underneath him.

There wouldn’t be a push-off if the defender wasn’t wrapped around Keion Brooks. Calls like this make a significant difference in the game and it went against Kentucky in this instance. Blow the whistle earlier and it could have been a totally different outcome.

Poor Execution Down the Stretch

There comes a time when awareness is important. Sometimes to be really good you have to just “feel” things happening. It takes Kellan Grady entirely too long to fight through this flare screen for #0 Umude. He is one of the very few shooters to be concerned about for the Arkansas Razorbacks. We have to be able to take this away.

Plays like this decide ball games. There is no reason to ever foul a 30% three-point shooter such as #4 Davis. You should be closing out short with high hands and begging him to shoot. By fouling him you just hand three points to the Razorbacks on a shot he otherwise would have likely missed.

Being willing to switch is a major key to any good defense. On this possession, Kellan Grady switched the little down screen that was coming into a ballscreen. He didn’t really need to switch that one, but the decision to do so is absolutely fine. However, if you switch the first one, you have to be more ready to switch the ballscreen. It is no secret as to what is coming. Switching guard to guard could have taken away the jump shot from #10 Williams.