Kentucky Women’s Basketball Postgame Notes
No. 17/18 Kentucky vs. Arkansas 
Memorial Coliseum – Lexington, Ky. 
 
No. 17/18 Kentucky 61, Arkansas 59 – FINAL
 
Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky moves to 21-5 on the year and 8-4 in the league while Arkansas is now 16-10, 5-7 in the SEC.
  • The Wildcats will return to action Thursday at No. 11/14 South Carolina at 7 p.m. ET inside Colonial Life Arena. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network while Darren Headrick will have the call on radio on the UK Sports Network.
• Kentucky leads the all-time series against Arkansas 24-13, including an 15-3 mark in games played in Lexington.
  • The Wildcats have won 10 straight games against the Razorbacks.

• UK is now 819-537 all-time in its 45 years as a program.
  • Matthew Mitchell is in his 12th year with the Wildcats and holds a 277-122 record. Mitchell is 307-151 overall in 14 years as a head coach.
• Kentucky is ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 18 in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25.
• The Wildcats are on a four-game winning streak in the SEC, which is its longest conference winning streak of the season.

 
Team Notes

• Kentucky used the starting combination of senior guard Taylor Murray, senior guard Maci Morris, freshman guard Rhyne Howard, sophomore forward KeKe McKinney and sophomore forward Tatyana Wyatt.
  • The Wildcats are 19-4 with those starting five this season.
• The Wildcats ended the first quarter on a 7-2 run to take a 22-14 lead after the first quarter which was its largest lead of the game.
  • Six different UK players scored in the first quarter.
  • UK held Arkansas without a field goal for the final 4:10 of the first quarter.
• Kentucky started the second quarter just 1-of-8 from the field and 0-of-4 from long range but held a 26-19 lead with 6:30 to go in the half before Arkansas ended the quarter on a 16-6 run to take a 33-30 lead into the break at halftime.
  • UK only scored 8 points in the second quarter, which tied its lowest scoring output of the season in a quarter.
  • The Wildcats were just 2-of-16 from the field in the second quarter and went 6:14 without a field goal.
  • UK also had four turnovers in the second quarter after just one turnover in the first quarter.
• Kentucky is 3-4 this season when trailing at the half, including 2-3 in league play.
• UK outscored Arkansas 17-13 in the third quarter to take a 47-46 lead into the fourth quarter.
  • The Wildcats went 8-of-18 from the field in the third quarter while Arkansas was 6-of-16.
• Arkansas went the entire third quarter without being called for a foul and had only two fouls in the first 15:27 of the second half.
• Kentucky went 7:12 without a field goal in the fourth quarter but still won the quarter, 14-13
• After going 9-of-21 from the field in the first quarter, UK went just 14-for-46 the rest of the game for 30 percent.
• The Wildcats held Arkansas to just 59 points, which was its third-lowest scoring output in league play this season.
  • UK has held three of its last four opponents to 59 points or less.
  • The Wildcats are now 16-1 this season when holding opponents to less than 60 points, including 6-1 in conference play.
• Rhyne Howard’s buzzer-beater with 1.3 seconds left to win the game was the first last-second shot by a Wildcats to clinch a win since Makayla Epps (who was in attendance Sunday) scored with 8.7 seconds left in overtime against top-5 ranked Mississippi State on Feb. 23, 2017 inside Memorial Coliseum.

 
Player Notes

• Senior guard Maci Morris scored 11 points with three rebounds and two assists.

  • Morris now has 1,608 career points, which ranks sixth most in program history. She needs 182 more point to tie Makayla Epps for 5th all-time in school history in points scored.
  • Morris has 240 career 3-pointers made which ranks second in program history. She needs 31 more 3s to tie Sara Potts for most all-time.
  • Morris has hit at least one 3-pointer in 103 of 122 career games played.
• Senior guard Taylor Murray scored 16 points, adding seven rebounds, two assists and one steal.
  • Murray now has 1,275 career points and ranks 20th all-time in points scored. She needs 43 more points to tie Bria Goss for 19th with 1,318. 
  • Murray has 419 career assists which ranks seventh most in program history. She needs 6 more to tie Amber Smith for sixth all-time in program history.
  • Murray has 266 career steals which ranks sixth most in program history. She needs 6 more steals to move into the top five in program history.

• Freshman guard Rhyne Howard scored 18 points with 14 rebounds, four assists and three steals.   

  • Howard has hit three or more 3s in three straight games.
  • Howard connected on a jumper in the paint with 1.3 seconds left to seal UK’s win. It was the first buzzer-beating game-winning shot for UK since Feb. 2017. 
  • Howard has scored 421 points this season which ranks third most by a freshman in a season in program history. She needs 70 more point to tie A’dia Mathies for second. She needs 220 more points to tie Valerie Still for the program record.
  • Howard has hit 63 3-pointers this season, which is the most ever by a true freshman in a single season in program history.
  • She has 56 steals, which ranks tied for fourth most by a freshman in program history.
  • Her 173 rebounds is eighth most in program history for a freshman, needing 12 more to move into the top 5 on that list.
  • Howard led Kentucky in points, rebounds, steals, assists and blocks in the game.
  • Howard has 15 or more points in 20 games this season and had led UK in scoring 13 times and in rebounds 14 times.
  • Her 14 rebounds were one off a career high.
  • She recorded her fifth double-double of the season in the game.