First Scouting Report: UK will seek to derail the ‘Muss Bus’ for a third straight time
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Game day: No. 16 Kentucky 91, Mississippi State 89
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss.
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A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 16 Kentucky (20-8, 10-5 SEC) will face Arkansas (14-14, 5-10 SEC) on Saturday, March 2, at Rupp Arena (seating capacity 20,545) at Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington.
The game will tip off at 1:30 p.m. (EST) and be telecast by CBS.
Coach Eric Musselman’s Razorbacks suffered an 85-82 loss to Vanderbilt on Tuesday at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series with Arkansas 35-14.
UK coach John Calipari is 12-7 vs. Arkansas.
Arkansas head man Eric Musselman is 3-3 vs. Kentucky.
After Musselman started his Arkansas tenure 3-1 vs. UK, the Wildcats have won the past 2 meetings between the teams.
Most recent meeting
Antonio Reeves scored 24 points and Reed Sheppard added 14 points, four rebounds, five assists, four steals and a blocked shot to lead Kentucky to a 63-57 win at Arkansas on Jan. 27, 2024.
UK overcame a dismal first-half shooting performance, 9-for-31, and rallied from 26-24 down at halftime to win.
Makhi Mitchell had a double-double, 12 points and 13 rebounds, to pace Arkansas.
Power rankings
The NCAA NET rankings have Kentucky No. 19, Arkansas No. 121.
In the Pomeroy Ratings, Kentucky is No. 17 and Arkansas No. 118.
Know your foe
1. Based on preseason expectations, Arkansas has been the SEC’s most disappointing club. The Razorbacks were picked to finish third, one spot ahead of Kentucky, in the Southeastern Conference preseason media poll.
Instead, the Hogs are tied with Georgia for 12th in the SEC at 5-10, ahead of only Vanderbilt (3-12) and Missouri (0-14).
2. In Eric Musselman’s tenure, Arkansas teams have tended to “jell” in February. Even as the Hogs have disappointed this season, there was some evidence Arkansas was again putting things together late. Going into Tuesday night’s contest with Vandy, the Razorbacks had won two in a row and three out of five.
A home-court loss to the struggling Commodores, however, was a momentum drainer.
3. Ball handling and outside shooting have been weaknesses for Arkansas in 2023-24. The Razorbacks went into play Tuesday night making only 31.9% of their 3-point tries, while allowing foes to make 34.4% of their attempted treys.
Arkansas entered the Vanderbilt contest having turned the ball over 315 times, while opponents had turned it over 298 times.
University of Houston transfer Tramon Mark has been the Razorbacks’ top player. The 6-6, 185-pound guard entered play Tuesday night averaging 16.9 points and 4.2 rebounds and making 50.2% of his shots, 39.2% of his treys and 78.3% from the foul line.
Ex-Louisville Cardinals guard El Ellis has had a challenging year, averaging 5.8 points and making only 36% of his field-goal tries and 28.6% of his 3-point tries.
This story was originally published February 27, 2024 at 9:22 PM.
