Kentucky Holds Off No. 15 Arkansas in Fayetteville
In a game that featured six technical fouls, Kentucky held off No. 15 Arkansas 85-77 on Saturday night at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
The Cats were called for four technical fouls and the Hogs two in the game.
Otega Oweh scored 24 points to lead the Cats, while also grabbing eight rebounds. Collin Chandler had 13 points for UK and Malachi Moreno added 10. Denzel Aberdeen had 10 points for Kentucky.
UK made 10 of its first 11 shots from the floor and 11 of its first 13, which helped the Cats avoid another slow start.
Kentucky (15-7, 6-3 Southeastern Conference) scored first on an Oweh layup, but Arkansas tied the game with a basket. An Aberdeen three gave the Cats a 5-2 lead. The Hogs hit a free throw before Oweh and Andrija Jelavic scored to make it 9-3. Arkansas scored to cut the UK lead to four.
Chandler hit a three, then scored on a breakaway dunk to extend the lead to 14-5. Arkansas hit a three, but Oweh scored and the Cats led by eight. The Hogs got a three-point play but Brandon Garrison scored underneath and UK led 18-11.
An Oweh three-point play and an Aberdeen three closed out an 8-0 run that gave the Cats a 24-11 advantage. After Arkansas scored, Garrison got a bucket on a putback to give UK a 13-point lead. However, the Hogs responded with a 12-3 run to cut the UK lead to 29-25.
Jelavic hit a three, but Arkansas scored the next four to cut UK’s lead to 32-29. Mo Dioubate scored on a putback and Trent Noah hit a three to extend the lead to 37-29. Two Arkansas free throws cut the lead to six, but Aberdeen scored and UK led 39-31. The Hogs got a basket to get within six.
Chandler scored in the lane and hit a subsequent free throw to extend the lead to nine, followed by two Arkansas free throws to close the half, which saw Kentucky leading 42-35 at the break. Oweh led everyone with 10 points in the first half.
Moreno scored the first points of the second half, but the Hogs scored four in a row to cut the UK lead to 44-39. Oweh made a free throw, but Arkansas scored to get within four. Aberdeen scored on a fast-break layup, but the Hogs hit a three to cut the lead to 47-44.
Moreno scored on a dunk, but the Hogs responded with a bucket of their own. Jelavic scored to extend the lead to 51-46. Arkansas responded with six points in a row to lead for the first time, 52-51, with 14:07 remaining.
Oweh scored to give UK the lead back, but the Hogs responded with five in a row to lead by four. A Chandler three cut the deficit to 57-56 but Arkansas made two free throws to again lead by four. A Moreno free throw and an Oweh dunk tied the game at 59-59.
Two Noah free throws gave UK a 61-59 lead, but Arkansas scored to tie the game again. Oweh drove to the basket and scored, but the Hogs again tied the game, this time at 63-63.
With 8:02 to play, Dioubate was fouled and Arkansas was called for a technical foul. Dioubate hit one-of-two, then Noah made both technical free throws and UK led 66-63. Kentucky also got the possession and Moreno was fouled. He made two free throws, meaning the Cats scored five points while 8:02 remained on the clock.
Moreno scored again, on a pass from Oweh, to stretch the lead to 70-63, but Arkansas scored four in a row to get within three. Moreno scored on a putback, but the Hogs scored to cut the UK lead to 72-69. A Noah free throw gave the Cats a four-point lead and an Oweh basket made it 75-69 with 3:59 to play.
Arkansas (16-6, 6-3) made one free throw before Oweh scored again to extend the lead to 77-70. After a defensive stop, Oweh was fouled and made two free throws to give the Cats a nine-point lead. A Dioubate free throws made it 80-70, but Arkansas scored four straight to get within six.
Chandler hit a jumper with the shot clock expiring to stretch the lead to 82-74 with 1:14 to play. The Hogs hit two free throws with 1:00 left, then Oweh made one-of-two to make it 83-76. From there, Arkansas would not get closer than seven points as UK sealed the game at the free throw line.
Kentucky returns to action on Wednesday, hosting Oklahoma at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on ESPN2.
