Hot-shooting Hogs roll to win at Kentucky; Muss Gets Win 200

February 7, 2023

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Arkansas used a red-hot second half to roll to an 88-73 win at Kentucky on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena. It marked the fifth-straight SEC win for the Razorbacks and gave Head Coach Eric Musselman his 200th win as a collegiate head coach (the 90th at Arkansas).

The Razorbacks went 18-for-25 (72.0%) from the field in the second half and shot 62.7% overall in the win. In fact, the 62.7% shooting from the field for the game ties a Razorback record for the best shooting percentage in an SEC game. (Arkansas was also 62.7% in a win over Mizzou on Jan. 12, 2016.)

Leading by one coming out of halftime, back-to-back steals and dunks from Anthony Black spurred a 6-0 run to set the tone early in the second half. The Hogs’ defense led to the offense scoring 23 points off of turnovers, highlighted by a second half that saw the team match their missed field goals (7) with just as many steals (7) en route to outscoring the Wildcats 47-33.

Makhel Mitchell was impressive on both ends of the floor, shining offensively with a season-high 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting while shutting down Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe. Mitchell blocked five shots and collected four boards with his twin brother Makhi adding a team-high nine rebounds.

Five Razorbacks reached double digits in scoring led by Ricky Council IV’s 20 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go with 8-for-10 from the free throw line. Black added 19 points, five assists and five steals with Davonte Davis chipping in 15 points and seven assists. The second assists were a season high and tied his SEC career high. Jordan Walsh was perfect shooting the ball, scoring 13 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field.

The Hogs dominated the majority of the game, leading for over 32 minutes. That domination was evident in the paint, outscoring Kentucky 46-28, and in transition, outscoring UK 20-10 in fast break points.

Arkansas returns home to host Mississippi State on Saturday (Feb. 11). Tipoff is set for 5 pm (CT) at Bud Walton Arena and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

FIRST HALF: Arkansas: 41 – Kentucky: 40

Both teams shot 53 percent from the field – 58.3% for Arkansas and 53.1% for UK.
Arkansas was 10-of-10 at the line, including two free throws by Anthony Black on a technical foul called Kentucky’s Coach Calipari.
Arkansas had five players score at least seven points including 9 from Davonte Davis and 7each from Makhel Mitchell, Anthony Black, Ricky Council IV and Jordan Walsh.
Cason Wallace led Kentucky with 11 points.
Kentucky won the battle of the boards, 16-10.

SECOND HALF: Arkansas: 47 – Kentucky: 33

As hot as Arkansas was shooting in the first half, it shot even better in the second half at 72% (18-of-25).
Arkansas used a 6-0 run to open the second half thank to a Makhi Mitchell jumper and back-to-back steals that led to dunks by Anthony Black.
With 8:24 left and Arkansas leading by six, the Razorbacks used an 8-0 run to lead by 14 (72-58) with 6:40 left. Kentucky never cut its deficit to single digits the rest of the game.
Ricky Council IV scored 13 of his 20 in the second half thanks to going 6-of-8 at the line.
Anthony Blacks scored 12 of his 19 in the period with all five of his steals.
All five of Makhel Mitchell’s blocked shots were in the second half as were six of the team’s seven for the game.
Cason Wallace led Kentucky with 13 points in the half.
Arkansas won the battle of the boards in the half, 16-15, and had 10 assists on 18 made baskets. Kentucky, one of the top assist teams in the nation, only had three second-half assists with nine turnovers.

GAME NOTES

Coach Muss’ 90 wins since becoming head coach at Arkansas are the most by any SEC team over the span.
Arkansas’ starting lineup was Anthony Black – Davonte Davis – Ricky Council – Makhel Mitchell – Makhi Mitchell for the third-straight time, fourth time overall.
Kentucky won the tip.
Kentucky’s Chris Livingston scored the first point, a free throw at 18:43. Ricky Council IV scored Arkansas’ first points, a 3-pointer at 17:58.
Jordan Walsh was the first Razorback sub.
Arkansas won for just the fifth time ever in 20 games Lexington.
Arkansas has won three straight versus Kentucky, including two straight in Rupp Arena.
With two wins in February this year, Arkansas is 15-1 in the month over the past three years. Coach Musselman is 18-8 in the month while at Arkansas.
Arkansas had seven dunks, including three by Anthony Black. It ties for the third-most dunks in a game this season and is the most in an SEC game this season.
Arkansas is 13-3 when leading at the half this season but is now just 1-3 in such games on the road with loses at Vanderbilt, Missouri and Baylor.
The 88 points ties for the second-most in a game this year, scoring 99 in a win over San Jose State and scoring 88 in the win over Oklahoma.
This was the first of two meeting with Kentucky this year. The only other time Arkansas and Kentucky met twice in the same regular season was 2013-14 and Arkansas won both of those meetings, winning in Fayetteville first then at Rupp.
The 88 points is the most in a Razorback win over Kentucky since a 94-92 win in Fayetteville on Jan. 29, 1995. In Lexington, Arkansas defeated UK 90-82 on Feb. 9, 1994, and 105-88 on Jan. 25, 1992.
@HogStats.com: Arkansas has shot at least 60% from the field, 40% from 3-point range and 80% from the line three times in school history – at Florida State 1/21/91 (62.9%, 62.5%, 84%), at Missouri 1/12/16 (62.7%, 53.3%, 80%) and at Kentucky 2/7/23 (62.7%, 44.4%, 83.3%).
@HogStats.com: This was the fifth-best, 2-point shooting performance on the road in the 3-point era, third-best in a conference (SWC or SEC) road game and second-best in an SEC-only road game.
Arkansas has led for at least 32 minutes in each of its last four SEC wins.
Makhel Mitchell had season highs in both field goals made and attempted (7-of-9). He has 22 blocked shots in his last seven games played.
For the second time this season, Jordan Walsh did not miss a shot. He was 4-of-4 FG, 1-1 3PT and 4-4 FT for 13 points in 21:40 played. In the loss at Missouri, he was 4-of-4 FG, 2-2 3PT and 2-of-2 FT for 12 points in 13:02.

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