COLUMN: Red-faced Big Blue await Hogs

Arkansas guards Jimmy Whitt (33) and Isaiah Joe celebrate Wednesday during the second half against Vanderbilt in Bud Walton Arena. - Photo by Andy Shupe of the NWA Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas guards Jimmy Whitt (33) and Isaiah Joe celebrate Wednesday during the second half against Vanderbilt in Bud Walton Arena. - Photo by Andy Shupe of the NWA Democrat-Gazette

For sure, the Arkansas Razorbacks are getting new uniforms for this afternoon's Southeastern Conference showdown against Kentucky.

What should concern Razorback Nation more is that Eric Musselman's team can expect to face a wounded opponent with something to prove.

Only selling Churchill Downs to foreign interests might stun Kentucky's Big Blue Nation more than a basketball loss to an unranked team, the Wildcats' latest fate.

South Carolina has some of the worst nonconference losses by an SEC team -- 78-70 to Boston University and 63-56 to Stetson included -- but was playing at home Wednesday night, and the betting line of Kentucky minus 6 seemed low.

The quality of the Gamecocks' 81-78 victory -- a banked 3-pointer at the buzzer -- might be lacking but gets Frank Martin's team in the SEC win column. And with Alabama pulling an 83-64 shocker against visiting Auburn on the same night, the SEC no longer has an undefeated team overall and in conference play.

One of John Calipari's most unpredictable Kentucky teams left the Wildcats' coach perplexed again. Kentucky led by 14 with barely 15 minutes to play, and Calipari thought, "Let's get this to 20." Against some Calipari-coached Kentucky squads, South Carolina might have lost big in a half-empty arena.

"This team does not do it," Calipari said postgame. "We haven't done it all year. Then all of a sudden, we break off, or we break down defensively."

Though Kentucky beat preseason No. 1 Michigan State on opening night and handled a then-No. 3 Louisville, Calipari's 'Cats also suffered a most embarrassing defeat, 67-64 to Evansville at Rupp Arena when atop the polls. Offering some gauge of comparison, South Carolina is ranked No. 121 and Evansville No. 246 in the NCAA's current power ratings (Baylor is No. 1, Arkansas No. 24 and Kentucky No. 26).

A winner everywhere he's been, taking the 2012 NCAA title at Kentucky with current Lakers star Anthony Davis, Calipari knows something that Lou Holtz preached repeatedly when coaching at Arkansas and other stops: "When you're through improving, you're through."

"You're not playing Saint Aloysius," Calipari said after the South Carolina game. "This is Division-I, major-college, Power Five. Every possession matters. And when you get a chance to get somebody down, you do it."

Although a typically young Calipari-coached squad, Kentucky has enough back class to beat Arkansas today at Bud Walton Arena, perhaps by a comfortable margin. The Wildcats visit Fayetteville every other year and have won every matchup there since Anthony Qualls' put-back dunk in overtime with 0.2 seconds left in 2014. Don't be surprised if the Wildcats tune out the crowd noise, grateful to hear a voice other than their coach's.

That said, don't put anything past these Razorbacks, whose 14-3 record may not withstand close examination but reveals a will to win that Mike Anderson's last Arkansas teams frankly did not possess.

Musselman's squad has more heroes than Col. Robert Hogan in the 1960s TV series based in a German prison camp. Mason Jones scores 41 points one game. Isaiah Joe 34 in another and, most recently, Jimmy Whitt Jr. a career-high 30 against Vanderbilt Wednesday night. Like one of Nolan Richardson's Razorback squads, this bunch will take the first open shot, even if it's a 3-pointer, and play defense, like the man for whom the Walton Arena court is named might say, "until the general is dead."

The guys on the SEC Network made good points in the second half of the Vanderbilt game. Looking ahead to Saturday, one said to compare points off turnovers (Arkansas) and second-chance points (Kentucky). Kentucky's ability to handle pressure and pound the ball inside, where Arkansas is overmatched most every night, could hold the key to the game. Make it 77-73 Kentucky.

The Razorbacks stand to gain national attention with a victory over Kentucky or lose some luster in defeat. No one in college basketball can get out the word quicker about a hot team than ESPN's Dick Vitale, who'll be at courtside today. Though if Kentucky lays it on the Hogs, Arkansas fans are sure to mute their TV sets while Dickie V. goes on and on about Calipari and the Big Blue.

I only wish that Arkansas people weren't looking at this game as Armageddon. That same mindset seldom did Razorback football teams much good against Texas in their Southwest Conference classics. The fear is that the spotlight becomes too bright for the Hogs and that they come out flat. Kentucky, stinging from the loss to South Carolina and Calipari's post-game rebuke, is a wounded but dangerous opponent.

But if Arkansas can keep it close to the end, anything can happen. Late in the second half against Vanderbilt, the SEC Network guys said the greatest trick Arkansas has pulled this year came not in one of its hair-breadth victories but in a 2-point loss at LSU when nothing went right for the Hogs.

Who knows, Adrio Bailey or someone might stuff a miss in overtime, joining Scotty Thurman and Michael Qualls in the program's wing of late-game saviors.

Sports on 01/18/2020

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