Nazr Mohammed had 14 points and 13 rebounds and Scott Padgett posted 11 and 12 for Kentucky, which won its sixth straight game and halted the Razorbacks' six-game winning streak. The Wildcats had lost seven of their previous eight overtime games, with the lone victory coming in 1995 against the Razorbacks, who have lost five straight overall to Kentucky.
Kentucky increased its bulge to seven points with 41 seconds left, but Arkansas rallied back on a 3-pointer from Pat Bradley. Padgett made one and then missed from the line with 21 seconds left, and Bradley nailed another three, closing the Razorbacks within 79-77.
"I think we got some easy baskets that we weren't getting the rest of the game," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said regarding the overtime scoring. "Heshimu took and made some important baskets."
Turner made 1-of-2 from the line with 6.9 seconds left as Bradley fouled out, and Tarik Wallace missed a 3-pointer at the overtime buzzer. Wallace scored 15 points.
"I just tried to come out and give the team a spark," said Evans, who was eight points off his career high, set at Manhattan. "I just tried to go after loose balls, rebound the ball and try to get the crowd into the game."
"I think that they took us lightly," Arkansas' Kareem Reid said. "We should have won in regulation. This loss left a bitter taste in our mouths. We will get them back in March when we see them in the SEC Tournament."
Kentucky shot 45 percent (30-of-67) to 41 percent (31-of-75) for Arkansas, and held the rebounding edge for the 18th time in as many games this season, 57-31. The Wildcats overcame 2-of-19 3-point shooting and watched Arkansas convert 9-of-30 from long range. Kentucky's 3-pointers and long-range percentage were season lows, as were its 10 assists.
(6) KENTUCKY 80, (22) Arkansas 77 (OT)
ARKANSAS (77)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Williams 25 5-7 0-0 3-4 0 4 10
Hood 24 2-5 0-0 1-5 2 2 4
N Davis 36 3-8 0-0 2-9 2 0 6
Reid 31 4-9 1-3 1-4 6 3 10
Bradley 41 10-22 0-0 0-2 0 5 26
Adebayo 16 2-4 2-2 1-2 1 2 6
Walker 16 0-1 0-0 2-3 3 0 0
Wallace 31 5-17 3-4 1-1 2 3 15
B Davis 3 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Thompson 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 225 31-75 6-9 11-30 17 20 77
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.413, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
9-30, .300 (Reid 1-3, Bradley 6-12, Wallace 2-13,
B Davis 0-2). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 5
(N Davis 4, Williams). Turnovers: 15 (Wallace 4,
Bradley 3, Williams 3, Adebayo 2, Reid 2,
Walker). Steals: 9 (Bradley 2, Adebayo, Hood, N
Davis, Reid, Walker, Wallace, Williams).
KENTUCKY (80)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Edwards 21 1-4 0-0 1-5 1 3 2
Padgett 40 4-10 3-5 5-12 1 1 11
Mohammed 31 6-11 2-4 6-13 0 1 14
Turner 29 6-9 3-4 1-3 2 3 16
Sheppard 38 2-9 5-6 2-7 4 1 9
Evans 24 8-12 3-4 2-7 1 0 20
Magloire 12 1-1 0-0 0-4 0 0 2
Smith 22 1-7 0-0 0-0 1 2 2
Mills 5 0-3 2-2 1-1 0 0 2
Bradley 1 1-1 0-2 0-0 0 0 2
Anthony 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 225 30-67 18-27 18-52 10 11 80
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.448, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
2-19, .105 (Edwards 0-2, Padgett 0-3, Turner 1-2,
Sheppard 0-4, Evans 1-3, Smith 0-3, Mills 0-2).
Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 6 (Magloire 2,
Padgett, Mohammed, Evans, Edwards). Turnovers: 22
(Turner 6, Edwards 5, Evans 4, Padgett 3,
Sheppard 2, Mills, Smith). Steals: 8 (Smith 3,
Evans 2, Turner 2, Mohammed).
_______________________________________
Arkansas 40 27 10 - 77
Kentucky 38 29 13 - 80
_______________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 24,266. Officials: Don
Rutledge, David Dodge, Tony Greene.