[ad_1]
Kentucky went into Bud Walton Area on Saturday and left with an 85-77 upset victory vs. No. 15 Arkansas. The Wildcats’ win over former coach John Calipari was not solely symbolic, but additionally marked their finest win of the season. Kentucky (15-7, 6-3 SEC) entered the weekend 3-6 in opposition to Quad 1 opponents, and this victory over the Razorbacks (16-6, 6-3) might be precisely what Mark Pope’s staff wanted to get again on observe for good.
Getting into the sport, Pope and Calipari had an identical 38-19 data since taking on their respective applications final season. To attract much more parallels, Arkansas’ upset win over Kentucky final 12 months on the street received Calipari’s staff again on observe after a disappointing begin.
A 12 months in the past, the Razorbacks began 1-6 in opposition to SEC competitors earlier than going 7-5 the rest of the common season/SEC Event to punch their ticket to the NCAA Event. Kentucky nonetheless has its flaws and the accidents may finally derail a deep run in March, however getting its first win over Calipari since his high-profile exit is among the most essential wins Pope may have teaching his alma mater.
Though the begin to the SEC play hasn’t been as dire for Kentucky, that is the form of win that might flip issues round. Kentucky is by some means simply 1.5 video games again of Texas A&M for first place within the convention heading into February. Earlier than UK suffered a 25-point loss earlier this week in opposition to Vanderbilt, Pope’s squad had received 5 consecutive video games in opposition to SEC opponents.
As Kentucky star Otega Oweh put it, this sport was “private” for his staff.
“It was positively private,” Oweh informed the ESPN broadcast. “Extra the truth that the final time we performed, the final time we had, we did not do a great job of representing Kentucky. We needed to sit with that for a few days. We have been desperate to get again on the market.”
Oweh steps up for Kentucky
It is no secret that the Preseason SEC Participant of the 12 months did not begin the season robust. Nevertheless, since convention play started, Oweh has been the regular scoring presence that Kentucky wants. He has recorded not less than 20 factors in seven of Kentucky’s 9 convention video games, together with a 24-point outburst in opposition to Arkansas.
These 24 factors marked a season excessive for Oweh, lower than per week after scoring 23 factors in a win over Ole Miss. His resurgence additionally comes at a time when star guard Jaland Lowe has already been dominated out for the season, and massive man Jayden Quaintance — Kentucky’s finest NBA Draft prospect on the roster — is and not using a timeline to return. One of the best model of Kentucky down the stretch will contain Oweh taking part in like this.
Oweh shot 9 of 12 from the ground and added eight rebounds and three assists. Though he missed his lone 3-point try, his staff had one in all its best outings of the 12 months. Kentucky shot 6 of 13 (46.2%) from past the arc, which marked the second-highest 3-point taking pictures share of the season.
One of many staples of what made 12 months 1 of Pope’s tenure so profitable was Oweh’s breakout and the way properly his staff shot from past the arc. Final season, Kentucky shot 37.5% from the 3-point line as a staff, which ranked No. 24 in Division I. This season has been a distinct story, as Kentucky is taking pictures simply 33.9% from the 3-point line. That quantity ranks in the midst of the pack (No. 185) for Division I groups.
This sport was déjà vu for a number of causes. Kentucky was environment friendly from the 3-point line, Oweh regarded just like the participant he was final season, and on high of that, Kentucky was in a position to flip the script after dropping as a favourite at house final season in opposition to these Razorbacks.
Bracketology implications
Kentucky entered the day as a No. 7 seed in CBS Sports activities’ newest Bracketology projections, whereas Arkansas was on the No. 5 line. The Wildcats now have three wins over ranked opponents (St. John’s and Tennessee) after beating Arkansas. Notably, Kentucky has six video games remaining in opposition to Quad 1 opponents for the rest of the common season. The Wildcats nonetheless need to play Tennessee, Florida (twice), Auburn, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
Bracketology Snapshot: Key video games price monitoring this weekend
Isaac Trotter
There’s nonetheless extra work to be finished for Kentucky to really feel fully secure on Choice Sunday, however that is its finest win of the season — for a lot of causes and it isn’t shut. Positive, Kentucky rallied from a 17-point deficit in opposition to Tennessee on the street earlier this month, however getting a win over a top-15 opponent is a large resume builder for the Wildcats.
Acuff struggles early, however steps up within the second half
One of the best NBA Draft prospect taking part in on this sport, with Quaintance sidelined, was Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. The Razorbacks star guard struggled within the first half in opposition to Kentucky (5 factors, 2 of 10 from the ground), however got here on robust in the course of the remaining 20 minutes to assist in giving his staff the lead again halfway by the second half.
Acuff completed with 22 factors and three assists. Acuff is the No. 13-ranked participant within the CBS Sports activities NBA Draft prospect rankings. Throughout Calipari’s first season at Arkansas, he didn’t produce a first-round choose. The one participant chosen was Adou Thiero — who beforehand performed for Calipari at Kentucky — within the second spherical. That snapped Calipari’s streak of getting not less than one first-round choose for 17 consecutive years.
The great (and dangerous information) for Calipari is {that a} new streak will likely be began this summer time. Acuff is arguably one of the best level guard on this class. Throughout SEC play, he has posted some environment friendly numbers whereas additionally producing an excellent turnover-to-assist ratio. Guards win video games in March, and one of the best model of Arkansas will contain Acuff taking part in on the high stage.
require.config({"baseUrl":"https://sportsfly.cbsistatic.com/fly-410/bundles/sportsmediajs/js-build","config":{"version":{"fly/components/accordion":"1.0","fly/components/alert":"1.0","fly/components/base":"1.0","fly/components/carousel":"1.0","fly/components/dropdown":"1.0","fly/components/fixate":"1.0","fly/components/form-validate":"1.0","fly/components/image-gallery":"1.0","fly/components/iframe-messenger":"1.0","fly/components/load-more":"1.0","fly/components/load-more-article":"1.0","fly/components/load-more-scroll":"1.0","fly/components/loading":"1.0","fly/components/modal":"1.0","fly/components/modal-iframe":"1.0","fly/components/network-bar":"1.0","fly/components/poll":"1.0","fly/components/search-player":"1.0","fly/components/social-button":"1.0","fly/components/social-counts":"1.0","fly/components/social-links":"1.0","fly/components/tabs":"1.0","fly/components/video":"1.0","fly/libs/easy-xdm":"2.4.17.1","fly/libs/jquery.cookie":"1.2","fly/libs/jquery.throttle-debounce":"1.1","fly/libs/jquery.widget":"1.9.2","fly/libs/omniture.s-code":"1.0","fly/utils/jquery-mobile-init":"1.0","fly/libs/jquery.mobile":"1.3.2","fly/libs/backbone":"1.0.0","fly/libs/underscore":"1.5.1","fly/libs/jquery.easing":"1.3","fly/managers/ad":"2.0","fly/managers/components":"1.0","fly/managers/cookie":"1.0","fly/managers/debug":"1.0","fly/managers/geo":"1.0","fly/managers/gpt":"4.3","fly/managers/history":"2.0","fly/managers/madison":"1.0","fly/managers/social-authentication":"1.0","fly/utils/data-prefix":"1.0","fly/utils/data-selector":"1.0","fly/utils/function-natives":"1.0","fly/utils/guid":"1.0","fly/utils/log":"1.0","fly/utils/object-helper":"1.0","fly/utils/string-helper":"1.0","fly/utils/string-vars":"1.0","fly/utils/url-helper":"1.0","libs/jshashtable":"2.1","libs/select2":"3.5.1","libs/jsonp":"2.4.0","libs/jquery/mobile":"1.4.5","libs/modernizr.custom":"2.6.2","libs/velocity":"1.2.2","libs/dataTables":"1.10.6","libs/dataTables.fixedColumns":"3.0.4","libs/dataTables.fixedHeader":"2.1.2","libs/dateformat":"1.0.3","libs/waypoints/infinite":"3.1.1","libs/waypoints/inview":"3.1.1","libs/waypoints/jquery.waypoints":"3.1.1","libs/waypoints/sticky":"3.1.1","libs/jquery/dotdotdot":"1.6.1","libs/jquery/flexslider":"2.1","libs/jquery/lazyload":"1.9.3","libs/jquery/maskedinput":"1.3.1","libs/jquery/marquee":"1.3.1","libs/jquery/numberformatter":"1.2.3","libs/jquery/placeholder":"0.2.4","libs/jquery/scrollbar":"0.1.6","libs/jquery/tablesorter":"2.0.5","libs/jquery/touchswipe":"1.6.18","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.core":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.draggable":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.mouse":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.position":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.slider":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.sortable":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.touch-punch":"0.2.3","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.autocomplete":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.accordion":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tabs":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.menu":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.dialog":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.resizable":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.button":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tooltip":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.effects":"1.11.4","libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.datepicker":"1.11.4"}},"shim":{"liveconnection/managers/connection":{"deps":["liveconnection/libs/sockjs-0.3.4"]},"liveconnection/libs/sockjs-0.3.4":{"exports":"SockJS"},"libs/setValueFromArray":{"exports":"set"},"libs/getValueFromArray":{"exports":"get"},"fly/libs/jquery.mobile-1.3.2":["version!fly/utils/jquery-mobile-init"],"libs/backbone.marionette":{"deps":["jquery","version!fly/libs/underscore","version!fly/libs/backbone"],"exports":"Marionette"},"fly/libs/underscore-1.5.1":{"exports":"_"},"fly/libs/backbone-1.0.0":{"deps":["version!fly/libs/underscore","jquery"],"exports":"Backbone"},"libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tabs-1.11.4":["jquery","version!libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.core","version!fly/libs/jquery.widget"],"libs/jquery/flexslider-2.1":["jquery"],"libs/dataTables.fixedColumns-3.0.4":["jquery","version!libs/dataTables"],"libs/dataTables.fixedHeader-2.1.2":["jquery","version!libs/dataTables"],"https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/app/VideoPlayer/AdobePass-min.js":["https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/util/Utils-min.js"]},"map":{"*":{"adobe-pass":"https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/app/VideoPlayer/AdobePass-min.js","facebook":"https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js","facebook-debug":"https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all/debug.js","google":"https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js","google-csa":"https://www.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js","google-javascript-api":"https://www.google.com/jsapi","google-client-api":"https://accounts.google.com/gsi/client","gpt":"https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js","hlsjs":"https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/hls.js/1.0.7/hls.js","recaptcha":"https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js?onload=loadRecaptcha&render=explicit","recaptcha_ajax":"https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api/js/recaptcha_ajax.js","supreme-golf":"https://sgapps-staging.supremegolf.com/search/assets/js/bundle.js","taboola":"https://cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/cbsinteractive-cbssports/loader.js","twitter":"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js","video-avia":"https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.48.0/player/avia.min.js","video-avia-ui":"https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.48.0/plugins/ui/avia.ui.min.js","video-avia-gam":"https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.48.0/plugins/gam/avia.gam.min.js","video-avia-hls":"https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.48.0/plugins/hls/avia.hls.min.js","video-avia-playlist":"https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.48.0/plugins/playlist/avia.playlist.min.js","video-ima3":"https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/sdkloader/ima3.js","video-ima3-dai":"https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/sdkloader/ima3_dai.js","video-utils":"https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/util/Utils-min.js","video-vast-tracking":"https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/sb55/vast-js/vtg-vast-client.js"}},"waitSeconds":300});
[ad_2]
