With Calipari ejected and Hagans in foul trouble, UK toughs out win at Arkansas
Playing its first ranked opponent of the season, Arkansas looked to make a statement against Kentucky on Saturday.
A second-half rally put the Razorbacks in position to deliver that statement. Foul trouble, which included Ashton Hagans’ fourth with 15 minutes left, made the possibility of defeat loom large for Kentucky.
Yet, without Coach John Calipari, who was ejected with 8:19 left, and point guard Ashton Hagans playing with four fouls, Kentucky made a memorable statement of its own by winning 73-66.
After seeing an 11-point second-half lead evaporate (three days after a 14-point lead disappeared at South Carolina), Kentucky went on a 12-0 run to take a 59-49 lead with four minutes left.
But with the crowd trying to inspire Arkansas with repeated standing ovations — and the game giving the fans repeated reasons to believe — Kentucky held on.
Kentucky improved to 13-4 overall and 4-1 in the Southeastern Conference. Immanuel Quickley posted his first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Hagans also scored 13 points, while Tyrese Maxey added 11 and Keion Brooks 10.
Arkansas, which lost at home for the first time this season, fell to 14-3 overall and 3-2 in the SEC.
As Brooks suggested on Friday, the size advantage Kentucky enjoyed “means we can pound them inside.”
That’s what happened in the first half as Kentucky went into intermission with a 36-27 lead. UK outrebounded Arkansas 27-10. Overall, UK outrebounded Arkansas 48-28.
Maybe more telling, Arkansas had only one offensive rebound in the opening 20 minutes. Of course, South Carolina had 20 offensive rebounds in beating UK on Wednesday.
UK also shot the three-pointer well against an Arkansas team that came into the game ranked first nationally in three-point defense (opponents had made only 22.8 percent of three-point shots).
Hagans, who had made only four of 15 three-point shots in the last seven games, made two before the first television timeout. That marked the first time since Dec. 14 that he had made more than one in a game.
When Sestina hit a three-pointer with 13:20 left in the first half, Kentucky had already made more threes than five previous Arkansas opponents (and as many as seven).
Johnny Juzang gave UK a lift. His three-pointer — the first he’d made since Nov. 29 — put the Cats ahead 29-20 with 5:25 left. It also the first time he’d made more than one shot since Nov. 29 (he earlier hit a jumper from the right wing).
Recent history suggested a Kentucky victory was not assured.
South Carolina rallied from 14 down in second half to beat UK on Wednesday.
Arkansas rallied from eight down with seven minutes to go to win against Ole Miss last weekend, and from 11 down to beat Indiana on Dec. 29.
Foul trouble complicated Kentucky’s effort. Montgomery, Maxey, Hagans and Sestina all picked up their third fouls inside the first five minutes.
Then Hagans picked up his fourth with exactly 15 minutes left. To the bench went the UK player Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman had called “the heartbeat of their team.”
Perhaps frustration with the officiating — in particular a (phantom?) foul on EJ Montgomery — caused Calipari to receive two technical fouls and an ejection with 8:19 left. To that point, the referees had whistled UK for 11 fouls.
Mason Jones made three of the four technical free throws to put Kentucky ahead 47-44.
With Arkansas possessing all the momentum, UK rallied. Hagans returned with 9:39 left and seemed to steady Kentucky.
Maxey’s fast-break layup while being fouled began a 13-0 run that put Kentucky in front 59-49.
Hagans helped cap the run by throwing a cross-court fast-break pass that Quickley converted into a three-pointer.
Next game
Georgia at No. 10 Kentucky
7 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN)
This story was originally published January 18, 2020 at 6:29 PM.
