Hogs have effort, but Kentucky claims victory

The Arkansas basketball team played about as well as could be expected for a bottom-of-the-SEC bunch against the No. 6 team in the country.

But the result ended up about how most figured.

Kentucky, the nation’s top-scoring team, struggled offensively, but had enough juice to put away the Razorbacks, 63-57, in front of a packed Bud Walton Arena crowd on Saturday.

A 7-0 run midway through the second half, spurred exclusively by Reed Sheppard and Antonio Reeves, gave Kentucky its first lead, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, even if it never grew to expected proportions.

Reeves led all scorers with 24 points and Sheppard scored all 14 of his in the second half.

Arkansas’ defense was as good as it has been in SEC play. The Hogs limited Kentucky to about 25 points below its season average and the Wildcats shot just 37% from the floor. Arkansas’ offense, though, never found rhythm.

Makhi Mitchell, he of 13 minutes a game this season, led Arkansas in scoring with 12 points. Tramon Mark and Khalif Battle added 11 apiece, but on 5-of-17 (Mark) and 3-of-10 (Battle) shooting.

The teams’ stats at halftime were eerie. Both shot 9-of-31 from the field. Both were 67% from the free-throw line. Both made two 3-pointers; Kentucky’s on nine attempts and Arkansas’ on 10. The Hogs had five turnovers to Kentucky’s four.

The turnovers ultimately doomed Arkansas. Sheppard punctuated that 7-0 run with a picked-off pass and dunk and Kentucky scored 12 points off the Razorbacks’ 13 giveaways.