Seven things you need to know from UK’s gut-check 85-77 win at No. 15 Arkansas
Seven things you need to know from Kentucky’s epic 85-77 win at Arkansas:
1. A gut-check win for the ages. After a bizarre second-half sequence in which a five-point Kentucky lead became a one-point Arkansas advantage after UK was called for three technical fouls in 38 seconds, the Wildcats could have folded.
The Cats eventually fell behind by four in a game in they had controlled throughout and would have had every right to be discouraged.
Instead, Kentucky fought back to earn one of the Wildcats’ sweetest wins in eons.
One year after John Calipari returned to Rupp Arena and hung an unexpected “L” on his old team, Cal’s former squad returned the favor.
UK heroes were many. Otega Oweh had 24 points, eight rebounds and defensively hounded Arkansas star freshman Darius Acuff Jr. into an 8-of-20 shooting night.
Collin Chandler had 13 points, including a clutch jumper with 1:13 left that put Kentucky ahead 80-72.
Malachi Moreno had 11 points and seven rebounds. Denzell Aberdeen had 10 points, three assists and no turnovers.
Trent Noah came off the bench to provide nine points and seven boards.
After getting blown out 80-55 at Vanderbilt on Tuesday night, the Cats showed nothing but fight in an incredibly intense road environment Saturday evening.
2. You can’t spell Kentucky without ‘T.’ Kentucky had a 51-46 lead with 14:49 left in the game when one of the stranger game sequences happened I have ever seen.
UK’s Brandon Garrison was called for a technical foul with 14:49 left, apparenlty for staring down an official after looming over Acuff, who had fallen to the floor.
Maliquie Ewin of Arkansas missed both technical free throws, but the fun was just starting.
Kentucky’s Mouhamed Dioubate was called for a technical foul with 14:27 left after he blocked a shotand exulted over it.
Arkansas star Darius Acuff Jr. cashed both of the technical foul shots.
UK coach Mark Pope was then called for a “T” with 14:11 left after apparently saying something to an official following a 10-second violation on the Cats.
Acuff again cashed both foul shots, then Arkansas got a dunk from Billy Richmond on the ensuing inbounds play to take its first lead of the game at 52-51.
The Hogs opened a 57-53 advantage, yet that just set Kentucky up for a comeback to remember.
3. Kentucky’s first-half woes come to an end. By this point, UK’s penchant for digging itself massive first-half holes has become one of the dominant narratives of the 2025-26 season.
Prior to Arkansas, Kentucky had played 14 games against high-level competition (power conference teams plus Gonzaga). In those 14 games, UK had trailed at halftime 10 times, been tied twice and led twice.
In true road games, the Wildcats’ first-half struggles had been especially pronounced — UK’s average halftime margin in those five contests was minus-14.
At Arkansas, Kentucky uncorked its best game start of the season.
UK hit 11 of its first 13 shots and opened a lead that twice reached 13 points.
Alas, the Wildcats cooled off after the torrid start and made only 6 of its final 22 first-half field-goal attempts.
Still, for only the third time this season against a high-level opponent, Kentucky had a halftime lead at 42-35.
4. Arkansas 3-point shooting. Last season, Arkansas came to Rupp Arena making only 32.5% of its shots from behind the 3-point arc — yet the Razorbacks shot a scalding 13 of 25 on 3-pointers in an 89-79 upset of Kentucky.
This year, Arkansas entered the UK game 25th in men’s Division I basketball in 3-point shooting, making a robust 37.9% of its trey tries.
Against the Wildcats this time, the Hogs made only 3 of 14 treys.
5. Pope vs. ranked teams. UK’s upset of No. 15 Arkansas pushed the Wildcats to 3-6 this season vs. teams in the AP Top 25.
Under Mark Pope, Kentucky is now 12-13 overall vs. ranked opponents.
6. Ex-Cats coaches vs. the Cats. Kentucky’s victory over Arkansas dropped John Calipari to 3-5 all-time vs. UK.
Calipari, who coached the Wildcats from 2009 through 2024, went 1-4 against Kentucky as Massachusetts coach (1988-96), 1-0 at Memphis (2000-2009) and is now 1-1 at Arkansas (since 2024).
Men who have coached at Kentucky have not, historically, had great success going against the Wildcats.
Current UK head man Mark Pope is 0-1 against UK, having lost at Rupp Arena 73-63 on Nov. 10, 2017.
Calipari’s predecessor at Kentucky, Billy Gillispie, has never coached against the Cats.
Tubby Smith went 0-6 against UK. Smith was 0-5 vs. the Wildcats as Georgia coach (1995-97) and 0-1 as High Point head man.
Rick Pitino is 6-13 against Kentucky, having gone 6-12 as Louisville coach (2001-2017) and standing 0-1 at St. John’s.
Eddie Sutton was 0-1 against UK, with the defeat being a 64-59 Kentucky win over Arkansas in the 1978 NCAA Tournament Final Four.
Neither Joe B. Hall nor Adolph Rupp ever coached against Kentucky.
However, John Mauer, Rupp’s predecessor at UK, went 7-22 coaching against Rupp and the Wildcats.
Mauer was 7-14 vs. Kentucky as Tennessee coach, and 0-8 against the Wildcats as Florida head man.
7. Speaking of ex-UK coaches. Mark Pope is now a combined 2-0 this season against teams coached by Rick Pitino and John Calipari.
This story was originally published January 31, 2026 at 9:10 PM.
