Basketball (M)

#15/16 Arkansas Suffers First Home Loss

January 31, 2026
Final Stats

FAYETTEVILLE – #15/16 Arkansas opened the second half with a 22-11 run to take a lead. But, with the game tied at 63 with 8:02 left, Kentucky had a 5-point possession and held the lead the rest of the way for an 85-77 victory Saturday night at Bud Walton Arena.

 

The key possession centered around a foul followed immediately by a technical foul, giving UK four free throws and the ball. The Wildcats made three of those free throws. Then, getting the ball after the technical, Kentucky was fouled again and Malachi Moreno made two free throws to put the Cats up five, 68-63. Moreno then had a dunk for a seven-point Wildcat lead.

Arkansas cut its deficit to three twice over the next two minutes, but Kentucky opened up a 10-point lead, 80-70, with 2:03 left and never looked back.

The Razorbacks were down seven at halftime, but started the second half on a 22-11 run. The spurt was aided by three technicals on Kentucky. With all the momentum, Billy Richmond III had a dunk to give Arkansas its first lead of the game, 52-51, with 14:04 left.

During the 22-11 run, Darius Acuff Jr. scored 13 points for Arkansas as the Hogs took a 57-53 lead with 12:19 remaining.

Arkansas held the lead over the next two minutes until Otega Oweh had a fastbreak dunk to tie the game at 59. Trent Noah followed with two free throws to put UK up two. Acuff found Malique Ewin for an alley-oop dunk to tie the game at 61 only to see Oweh answer with a layup. Richmond tied the game at 63 with a layup. Kentucky then had its five-point possession to lead to the upset win.

Also key in Kentucky’s win was the Wildcats’ ability to out-rebound Arkansas, 35-26.

Oweh led Kentucky with 24 points and eight rebounds, while Moreno added 11 points and seven rebounds.

Acuff led Arkansas with 22 points. Trevon Brazile just missed a double-double with 16 points and eight rebounds, adding two assists and three blocked shots.

Arkansas will have a midweek bye and then play three of its next four on the road – at Mississippi State on Feb. 7, at LSU on Feb. 10 and at Alabama on Feb. 18. The lone home game in the stretch is versus Auburn on Feb. 14.

FIRST HALF: ARK: 35 – UK: 42

  • Kentucky scored first and held the lead the entire half.
  • Kentucky made 13 of its first 15 shots but settled down and shot just 48.6% for the half. Arkansas started slow but caught up and shot 45.2% from the field.
  • Kentucky was 5-of-11 from 3-point while Arkansas was just 1-of-8.
  • The Wildcats lead by as many as 13 (26-13) with 12:02 to go.
  • Arkansas came to life, holding UK to 1-of-7 shooting, and used a 12-3 run to cut its deficit to four, 29-25.
  • The Razorbacks then went on a 4:11 scoring drought and Kentucky opened its lead back to eight, 37-29.
  • Kentucky out-rebounded the Razorbacks, 21-15.
  • Otega Oweh led Kentucky with 10 points.
  • Trevon Brazile and Billy Richmond III each scored nine for Arkansas.

SECOND HALF: ARK: 42– UK: 43

  • Neither team shot well from beyond the arc, but the Wildcats shot 61.9% from the field and Arkansas shot 53.6%. UK was just 1-of-2 from deep in the period while the Hogs were 2-of-6.
  • Kentucky was 16-of-25 at the line in the second half compared to Arkansas going 10-of-17.
  • Oweh had 14 second-half points while Acuff led all scorers with 17 second-half points.

NOTES:

  • Arkansas’ starting lineup was Darius Acuff Jr., Meleek Thomas, Karter Knox, Trevon Brazile and Nick Pringle.
  • Kentucky’s Otega Oweh scored the game’s first points, a layup at 19:27. Meleek Thomas scored the first points for Arkansas on a jumper in the lane at 19:07.
  • Arkansas’s first subs were Billy Richmond III and Malique Ewin.
  • Arkansas and Kentucky have met on 52 occasions, all but four since Arkansas joined the SEC (1991-92).
  • Kentucky owns a 37-15 advantage in the series, including a 33-15 mark in SEC games. However, half of the Hogs’ wins in the series have come in Fayetteville with UK holding a slight 11-8 advantage in such games.
  • Over the last eight games in the series, both teams have won four games.
  • Arkansas suffered its first home loss of the season, falling to 12-1 in Bud Walton Arena this season. The loss also snapped an overall 16-game home winning streak.
  • The 12-0 start this season in Bud Walton Arena was the program’s best since starting 10-0 in the 2019-20 and 2014-15 seasons.

For more­­ information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on X, Instagram and Facebook.

 

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