What a game. There's almost too much to say to easily sum it up.
You want to talk about an intense game ... that was as intense a regular season game as you're ever going to see. The crowd was livid over every single call. The refs kept it from spiraling totally out of control but could have done a better job of clamping down early. Arkansas' players were just emotionally a little bit out of control. The contesting every single whistle with angry outbursts was completely over the top. Frankly thought it was a bit of a circus at times with the hysteria. Hostile is one thing, unhinged is another.
Antonio Reeves had himself a game. Wow, did he ever. He scored 15 in the first half and came out and scored even more in the second. His best game as a Kentucky player and they needed it tonight.
Have to give Toppin a big shoutout as well. He wasn't Reeves in terms of impact, but missing both point guards, he was huge in terms of their ability to run a halfcourt offense. Reeves will rightfully get a lot of attention after this one - what a game - but Toppin has played at a very high level and is one main reason they have been functional without a PG.
Kentucky packed in the defense so much today it was like a zone and that wasn't a surprise given how few guys they had to play on the perimeter. They needed to force Arkansas to hit outside shots. Arkansas had quite a few shots rim out which could have been makes but today was about Kentucky.
I was impressed with how Kentucky handled the pressure for the most part given the absence of Wheeler and Wallace. Impressed and surprised.
Thought Arkansas tried to get in Oscar's head instead of leveraging their advantage with the point guards out. He probably did get away with a possible F2 on the first one but the second was weak. Anyways, that was a tone setter for the physical play and the crowd losing control over every call fed into it.
Huge win for Kentucky. Quad 1 win to end the regular season with an important momentum-building win.
You want to talk about an intense game ... that was as intense a regular season game as you're ever going to see. The crowd was livid over every single call. The refs kept it from spiraling totally out of control but could have done a better job of clamping down early. Arkansas' players were just emotionally a little bit out of control. The contesting every single whistle with angry outbursts was completely over the top. Frankly thought it was a bit of a circus at times with the hysteria. Hostile is one thing, unhinged is another.
Antonio Reeves had himself a game. Wow, did he ever. He scored 15 in the first half and came out and scored even more in the second. His best game as a Kentucky player and they needed it tonight.
Have to give Toppin a big shoutout as well. He wasn't Reeves in terms of impact, but missing both point guards, he was huge in terms of their ability to run a halfcourt offense. Reeves will rightfully get a lot of attention after this one - what a game - but Toppin has played at a very high level and is one main reason they have been functional without a PG.
Kentucky packed in the defense so much today it was like a zone and that wasn't a surprise given how few guys they had to play on the perimeter. They needed to force Arkansas to hit outside shots. Arkansas had quite a few shots rim out which could have been makes but today was about Kentucky.
I was impressed with how Kentucky handled the pressure for the most part given the absence of Wheeler and Wallace. Impressed and surprised.
Thought Arkansas tried to get in Oscar's head instead of leveraging their advantage with the point guards out. He probably did get away with a possible F2 on the first one but the second was weak. Anyways, that was a tone setter for the physical play and the crowd losing control over every call fed into it.
Huge win for Kentucky. Quad 1 win to end the regular season with an important momentum-building win.
