First Scouting Report: Kentucky tries again to end its losing ways vs. Arkansas
A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
Kentucky (20-10, 11-6 SEC) will face Arkansas (19-11, 8-9 SEC) on Saturday, March 4, at Bud Walton Arena (capacity 19,368) on the campus of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
The game will tip off at 2 p.m. (EST) and be telecast by CBS.
Coach Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks have dropped two straight games on the road vs. ranked opponents. Arkansas lost at No. 2 Alabama 86-83 last Saturday and fell at No. 12 Tennessee 75-57 on Tuesday night.
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series with Arkansas 33-14 but the Razorbacks have won the past three meetings.
As UK head man, John Calipari is 10-7 vs. Arkansas.
Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman is 3-1 against UK.
Most recent meeting
Ricky Council scored 20 points and freshman Anthony Black had 19 points, four rebounds, five assists and five steals as Arkansas routed Kentucky 88-73 on Feb. 7 before 19,855 fans at Rupp Arena.
The Razorbacks scalded the Rupp rims, making 62.7 percent of their shots (32 of 51) for the game and 72 percent (18 of 25) in the second half.
Power rankings
The NCAA NET rankings have Arkansas No. 14, Kentucky No. 19.
In the Pomeroy ratings, Arkansas is No. 15, Kentucky is No. 21.
The Sagarin ratings have Arkansas No. 16, Kentucky No. 18.
Know your foe
1. After sitting out from Dec. 17 until Feb. 11 due to a knee injury, lavishly hyped Arkansas freshman Nick Smith has returned to play — and seems to be heating up. The 6-foot-5, 175-pound product of Sherwood, Ark., was the No. 2-ranked prospect in the class of 2022 Rivals 150.
Over his past four games, Smith is averaging 18 points a game. He has made 25 of 62 field goals, eight of 21 three-pointers and 14 of 17 free throws in those four contests. The reigning SEC Freshman of the Week had 26 points in a 97-65 win over Georgia on Feb. 21 and had 24 in an 86-83 loss at No. 2 Alabama last Saturday.
Smith did not play against Kentucky in the Arkansas win in Rupp Arena earlier this month.
2. February of 2023 was not the joy ride for “The Muss Buss” that it had been in the prior two seasons. Eric Musselman’s Razorbacks went 6-0 in February in 2020-21, then came back and put up a 7-1 mark in the second month last season.
This year, however, Arkansas went 4-4 in February. The Razorbacks lost at home to Mississippi State and on the road at three of the SEC’s top teams — No. 24 Texas A&M, No. 2 Alabama and No. 12 Tennessee.
3. In the Arkansas win over Kentucky in Rupp Arena, burly twin brothers Makhi and Mahkel Mitchell made things difficult for UK star Oscar Tshiebwe. The 6-10, 240-pound Mahkel Mitchell had 15 points, four rebounds and four blocked shots. Makhi Mitchell, who goes 6-9, 230, had four points and nine rebounds.
Defensively, the Mitchell twins held Tshiebwe to seven points and seven rebounds and limited the UK star to only six field-goal attempts (3-for-6).
Since that game, Kentucky has begun to pull Tshiebwe off the block and allow him to face the basket more. It will be interesting to see how that approach impacts the Razorbacks’ defensive approach against the Kentucky star.
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