Kentucky roast Razorbacks

Kentucky roast Razorbacks

sports@theeveningtimes.com

The Arkansas Razorbacks (12-3 overall, 1-2 SEC) entered the game against the No.6 Kentucky Wildcats (13-2, 3-0) determined not to let Arkansas native and Kentucky freshman Malik Monk beat them. That part of the Razorbacks game plan worked, as the Wildcats season leader in scoring finished with 12 points: 10 below his season average.

The problem for the Razorbacks was that four other Wildcats finished with double-digit scoring nights which led the Kentucky team to a 97-71 victory over the guys from Arkansas.

De’Aaron Fox, who led the Wildcats in scoring with a career high 27 points, believes the focus Monk drew from the Razorbacks played a big part in his own explosive night.

“Even if he isn’t making shots, teams are still going to guard him,” Foxx told The Associated Press. “When things aren’t going his way, it would turn into a one-on-one with my defender and I think I won that battle a lot.”

After the game, Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari praised his freshman guard and contributed Fox’s success to an extensive work ethic.

“De’Aaron Fox is ridiculous,” Calipari told The Associated Press. “He’s been doing extra work. He’s been coming to practice early, not by choice, and he has really been working and it showed in the game.”

Though the Wildcats ended up winning by 26 points, the game was close at halftime as the Razorbacks went into the locker room only trailing by 3 points.

Senior forward Moses Kingsley connected from three-point land for the Razorbacks with 31 seconds to play in the first half and once again made it a one possession game with Arkansas trailing 41-38.

However, the Razorbacks team did not play with the same intensity after the break according to Arkansas Head Coach Mike Anderson.

“Before half(time), it was tremendous effort by our guys,” Anderson told The Associated Press. “But we all know the game is 40 minutes. We didn’t do our part in the second half.”

The Razorbacks fought to keep the Kentucky lead to single digits. But, with 14:33 to play Kentucky freshman forward Edrice Adebayo emphatically slammed the ball home while drawing contact and gave the Wildcats a 12point cushion by sinking the following free throw.

A 12-6 Wildcat run boosted Kentucky’s lead to 7255 with 10:39 to play. The Wildcats continued to pull away as the clock ran out despite Arkansas’ best efforts to claw its way back into the game.

Senior Derek Willis and sophomore Isaiah Briscoe tied for second in scoring for the Wildcats with 15 points apiece. Adebayo also finished with a double- digit scoring effort, pushing through 11 points. Briscoe led Kentucky in rebounds, snatching 8 boards.

Junior Daryl Mason led the game in scoring for the Razorbacks, pumping in 15 points. Jaylen Barford and Kingsley finished second for Arkansas in the point column, each player contributing 14. Kingsley and Manuale Watkins cleaned the boards for the Razorbacks as both players snagged 7 rebounds apiece. Kentucky is next scheduled to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores (8-7, 2-1) on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. That game will be broadcast on ESPN.

The Razorbacks will look to bounce back as the team is slated to tip-off against the Mississippi State Bulldogs (10-4, 1-1) in Fayetteville at 8 p.m. on Tuesday night. The Razorbacks vs. Bulldogs conference contest will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

Arkansas guard Daryl Macon, left, vies for the basketball with Kentucky guard De'Aaron Fox. Photo by Mark Cornelison.

Photo courtesy of kentucky.com/sports

By Collins Peeples