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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) – For a couple of minutes, Arkansas
looked like a team trying not to lose Sunday.
|  | | Arkansas' T.J. Cleveland, right, and Kentucky's Erik Daniels battle for a loose ball. |
Leading Kentucky (No. 16 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) by four points, the Razorbacks twice
worked the shot clock before Brandon Dean missed badly.
On the next possession, Arkansas was in no danger on the shot
clock when Jannero Pargo fired from the top of the key.
"I was yelling, `Don't shoot!' " said Arkansas coach Nolan
Richardson. "I didn't want it. Then I yelled, 'Good shot.' That
one there was the dagger."
Pargo's 3 with 1:21 to play gave Arkansas (17-9, 8-6 SEC) a
79-72 lead and Arkansas held the Wildcats scoreless for nearly
three minutes down the stretch for an 82-78 victory.
Saul Smith ended the Wildcats' scoring drought with a tough
jumper from the baseline, but Pargo added two more free throws for
an eight-point advantage with 39.7 seconds to play.
Kentucky (18-8, 11-3 SEC) led by eight points early in the
second half. But the Wildcats shot poorly the rest of the way and
had their eight-game winning streak stopped.
Richardson said making Kentucky play defense for 30 seconds or
so at a time took the spring out of the Wildcats on offense.
"You could see guys reaching for their shorts and that's a
telltale sign," he said.
"We ran them and ran them in the second half," said Arkansas'
Charles Tatum. "We took away their legs."
Tayshaun Prince opened the second half with a baby hook that put
Kentucky ahead 49-41. The Wildcats, the best-shooting team in the
SEC, made only 12-of-40 the rest of the half. Prince missed his
final six shots.
"If we would have been shooting well, we would have won the
game," said Kentucky coach Tubby Smith.
Keith Bogans, who had 17 points in the first half, missed all
six of his shots in the second half and still led the Wildcats in
scoring. "He was the topic of our conversation at halftime,"
Richardson said. "We tried to get to him and double him up, and
make him get rid of the ball."
Arkansas shot almost 47 percent in the second half against the
most effective defense in the SEC. The Razorbacks' production
included 10-of-21 from 3-point land, including at least one by a
half-dozen players.
"We can't seem to get our guys up on people and get the
pressure on," Smith said. "I think that was one of our problems
in the second half."
Arkansas led 76-72 with 4:02 to play and it stayed that way
until Pargo's 3. Kentucky followed each of Dean's late misses with
two misfires of its own.
Teddy Gipson gave Arkansas its first lead in more than 17
minutes when he started from the corner, drove hard into the lane
and stopped suddenly for a 6-footer and a 61-60 edge.
Joe Johnson led Arkansas with 18 points and Pargo had 16.
Prince's two free throws narrowed the lead to 71-68, but Dean
drove into the lane and flipped a pass outside to Gipson who beat
the shot clock with a 3.
After a technical foul, Pargo made two free throws for a 33-32
lead.
Former Alabama coach David Hobbs got the technical and seconds
later said to his boss, "My fault."
Johnson got too fancy and his mistake led to Bogans' three-point
play that put the Wildcats back in front 35-34. Tatum tied it for
the seventh time with a 3.
Kentucky led 47-41 at halftime. Arkansas made two of its last
nine shots in the half while the Wildcats were 6-of-13.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Kentucky Clubhouse
Arkansas Clubhouse
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