CRAWFORD | Kentucky throws the first punch, earns technical knockout at Arkansas, 85-77 | Sports
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — They played this game at Bud Walton Arena, but it felt more like it belonged at Razorback Stadium, or maybe the Thunderdome.
This wasn’t a basketball game. This was a bar fight in gym shorts. A demolition derby where the rims took the worst of it and decorum was left whimpering in the hallway.
Kentucky and Arkansas didn’t trade baskets. They traded body blows. They exchanged technicals like Christmas cards. And when it was all over, Kentucky had the only thing that sparkled: an 85-77 win that was part resumé, part resurrection, and all fight.
This was the Wildcats’ biggest win of the Mark Pope era, and they did it in John Calipari’s house, which is still standing, but the windows are rattling. Arkansas hadn’t lost here in nearly a year. But Kentucky came in and tore up the rug, broke the furniture, and left a note: “[Contents censored].”
Along the way, Kentucky rewrote the headlines after that 25-point faceplant at Vanderbilt, and reminded everyone that it can throw a punch — sometimes literally — and still land on its feet.
The technical foul count reached four for Kentucky, including three in a wild 38-second stretch that had whistles blowing like a New Year’s parade. Pope got one. The team got two. Somewhere in the middle, Arkansas took the lead and looked like it might get away with the game — or at least with Kentucky’s patience.
But the Cats didn’t blink. They bit down.
Otega Oweh, whose game was tailor-made for nights like this, poured in 24 points while fending off flying limbs. Collin Chandler hit perhaps his biggest shot of the season, a fadeaway jumper at the end of the shot clock in the final minute that put Kentucky up by eight and made the rowdiest building in the SEC fall silent.
Freshman Malachi Moreno was immovable. He gave Kentucky 11 points, 7 rebounds, and two blocks in 27 minutes that made scouts drool and Arkansas bigs wince. Denzel Aberdeen added 10. Trent Noah, more lunch pail than lightning, chipped in 9 points and 7 rebounds off the bench.
Kentucky was the aggressor early, sprinting to a 13-point lead just eight minutes in. Arkansas rallied behind Darius Acuff’s 22 points and a raucous crowd that howled at every whistle. But late in the game, it was Arkansas that lost its cool — a mid-half scuffle here, a flagrant foul on Trevon Brazile there — and Kentucky that found its finish.
The final box had Kentucky shooting 53.6 percent, outrebounding the Hogs 35-26. It also left the Wildcats in a three-way tie for third in the SEC and reminded Pope’s team — and everyone else — that their ceiling is still high.
Especially when they punch first. This wasn’t Kentucky scrambling back from a deficit. This was Kentucky putting a quality opponent on its heels. It was a good look.
Next up: Oklahoma visits Rupp Arena on Wednesday. Bring your sneakers. And maybe a mouthguard.
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