This is what I was told after the game….

“Moving forward Edwards will come off the bench, they used a “injury” for the reason last night but that’s not the case. They didn’t want to hurt his reputation with him being benched because of his play lately”

I think this is quite obvious that Edwards has lost his starting spot.

Give me DJ, Reed, Reeves, Mitchell, and Ugo. Best balance of offense, defense, and rebounding. Unselfish, work well together, and play hard as hell. Rob when you need an offensive push, Thiero when you need extra defense/rebounding. Thats Cals magic 7 he likes to have.

Hope all is well with everyone today, I don’t have a lot going on other then just hanging with my brother, probably gonna order a pizza and watch some basketball.

Game doesn’t start till 6, what’s everyone watching till then?

Any one else got topics they wanna discuss, let’s do it

Based on my review, so far, Robert Dillingham takes the most shots per minute of playing time of any player for UK under Cal, surpassing Malik Monk in 2016-2017. Dilly is clearly a volume-shooter, no question, in the mould of today's NBA guards.

We have four (4) very good guards this year and it's easy to see the number of shots they take, as we are definitely a guard-oriented team this season. I suppose that makes it easier for a good defensive team to game plan for us and explains how we can really struggle on off-shooting nights, like against South Carolina. In that game, we attempted 62 shots and the four (4) guards took 46 of them (74%), while the other five (5) players attempted only 16 shots (26%). The perimeter game is great when we're running and shooting well, but we definitely need to be able to go inside when match-ups and game situations require it.

Based on the metrics above, as many here have discussed, Reed Sheppard definitely needs to take more shots, as his PTS/FGA is pretty impressive !! His shot volume is too low. Hopefully, Reed will become more inclined to take the shots when he has them. The team really needs for him to do so.

NOTE: PTS/FGA include points scored at the free-throw line.

lol. There was a lot of them on this board. A 2 star who’s not Kentucky material. I wonder if they’re still thinking that

• SEC win
• On the road
• Without 2nd leading scorer
• Down double digits in first half
• Won after starting 1-15 shooting
• Edwards, Thiero, Bradshaw, Big Z combine for 1 point, we still win
• Defense held opponent to 57 points on 37% shooting
• Auburn lost
• Kansas lost

It's a good day

Another top team, another terrible loss.

I still have hope we can make a jump in our seeding.

#6, 7, 8 (twice), 9, 10, 11 (twice), 15, & 16 lost this week. All but #7 and one of #11 losses to unranked teams.

Does 12 Duke leap up 6 spots?
How far do the Cats fall?
I won’t be surprised to see us fall to 9-12 range.

Worst ever.

That game was a rollercoaster. It felt like potential disaster and a post-game meltdown. But Kentucky really gutted it out in the second half. A good defensive game for the Cats. They executed some big possessions on offense.

The Razorbacks led for the majority of the game. Kentucky guts out a win on the road in spite of shooting a very low clip and having a second-straight bad offensive game. That's now going to be a conversation. No, Arkansas is not a very good basketball team but you had to figure they would play at close to their best level. Those fans always get up for Kentucky and they were in desperate need of a win. While Kentucky defended well in the first half the offense was awful. Everybody was cold, they made poor decisions, the team looked like a shell of the operation we had seen for most of the season before the USC game.

UK never put together a long run of great play but they steadily chipped away in the second half. Reed Sheppard made some of those anticipation plays on defense. Antonio Reeves knocked down some shots. DJ Wagner had a tough game. Cats could have used Rob Dillingham tonight.

Thought Reed Sheppard really made the difference in the 2H. Set Mitchell up for a big three. Had a good downhill drive & bucket, an interception and runout. Had a steal and perfect outlet pass to DJ Wagner. He was not perfect. Didn't look great in the first half but was so clutch late.

To me, Tre Mitchell is the guy they need to go to when they need to steady the ship and get a good shot. He plays at his speed, doesn't get sped up, will take a good shot.

Overall it didn't feel like it was going to be a positive day for UK basketball, but they gutted out a defensive win. That is something they can build on. Also a good sign they can take a road game they trailed most of.

QUICK TAKES: Kentucky 63, Arkansas 57​

Kentucky's DJ Wagner looked for an opening around Arkansas guard Layden Blocker during Saturday's game at Bud Walton Arena. (Nelson Chenault/USA Today Sports)

Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK

In our regular postgame feature, the Cats Illustrated staff offers its first impressions from Kentucky's 63-57 victory over Arkansas on Saturday night at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville...​

JUSTIN ROWLAND:

In the moment that looked like a potential disaster for Kentucky. If Kentucky had followed an ugly road loss to South Carolina with a loss to Arkansas, which was 1-5 in the SEC coming in, they would have squandered a lot of the goodwill they have enjoyed with the fan base for most of the season. It was already dropping. Reed Sheppard made some very big plays in the second half. On both ends of the court. Big-time shots were made by Tre Mitchell and Antonio Reeves. That was another ugly offensive half to start the game but in the end, a road conference win is big.

JEFF DRUMMOND:
In the back of every Kentucky fan's mind, they knew this was going to be a much harder game than it should have been. Arkansas is a struggling team on both ends of the floor, but with the Cats coming to town and ESPN's "GameDay" program in the house, it was all but guaranteed that the Razorback faithful were going to push their team to a higher level of play today with hopes of turning around their season. That makes this a big win. Kentucky's offense has really struggled in the last two games, but the Cats came up with the big shots when they needed them today (7 of 11 from deep in the second half) and held the Razorbacks to only 57 points. I liked what Ugonna Onyenso brought to the table today. His stat line won't blow you away (6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks), but he was active on both ends of the floor and had a team-best +14 tonight in 25 minutes of action.

TRAVIS GRAF:
Kentucky played horrifically on offense for the first 20 minutes, but the ball moved better in the second. They couldn’t afford to lose that game when everyone else had been beating up on Arkansas as of late. I thought Reed Sheppard’s confidence really grew in the second half and maybe that will be a springboard for him against SEC athletes moving forward. Antonio Reeves and Tre Mitchell provided good things, and I was really pleased with Ugonna Onyenso’s play. Adou Thiero needs to get back into game shape as there are minutes for the taking with Edwards and Bradshaw combining for 21 minutes. Kentucky’s defense did a better job of deterring drives, but Arkansas isn’t the best team to gauge three-point defense against.

DAVID SISK:
Winning on the road in the SEC is never an easy proposition. It was a root canal, but Kentucky got out of town with a 63-57 win even though they looked like they couldn’t play any worse for much of the game. The offense needs to get back to their old selves, but we probably found out today how much they miss Rob Dillingham. It was obvious they were out an explosive scorer. It was also a game where Reed Sheppard may have gotten some confidence back. I thought the game flipped when he went to point guard in the second half. Defensively, the team had some fight. They forced Arkansas into repeated tough possessions down the stretch. Granted, Arkansas has a middle-school skill level, but let’s hope a situation like today will build some toughness that this team badly needs.

BYU rolling over Texas. Looking good

anybody else watching the game on youtube tv 4k no commercials .

Cry all you want, as you would no matter what. They adjusted and won after a poor start. And also some ppl finally stepped up defensively.

8Th ranked auburn has dropped 2 in a row to unranked teams. What happened to your boy?

Everyone is going to try and slow uk down and play physical...then didn't fold.

As always...you play the season for a reason. You get different tests, you either respond, adjust, or learn.

What the heck is this all about? It feels like this show has happened before. Not feeling it.

So what the heck is going on with this team?????!!!!!!

We are CONSTANTLY dealing with at least 1 player being out and sometimes 2 or 3.

h/t to @Travis Graf on this one. He posed this question to us earlier today. Fun exercise, a ton of good options.

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We have 6 Q1 games left. Not that many. The most winnable Q1 road games we lost already TaMU and usc. MS st, UT, Auburn all on the road. Then at home UT, Gonzaga (they could end up Q2), and Alabama. We re 2-3 right now in Q1 games.

I’m not saying it’s impossible but given our road performances thus far im not counting on winning any of those road games. Then the home games. Gonzaga we beat even though they could end up Q2 after a loss to us. Bama I’m confident about at home. UT I’m 50/50.

So here’s how I see it if cal is going to turn it around. He has to win the 3 home games and take one of those road games. We would be what 6-5 then in Q1 and probably push for a 3 seed. That of course is running the table in these other games which vandy on the road is always concerning.

here's to winning a rock fight on the road.
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Next week, the Cats face Florida who ranks 14th in offensive efficiency and Tennessee who ranks 19th in offensive efficiency. Time to step it up.

No matter how you, the NET, or KenPom dissect it, that is a helluva win. Back against the wall and nothing is falling but still come out, PLAY DEFENSE, stay the course and make shots is huge. Great for us as fans but bigger for the guys in the locker room celebrating tonight.