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| | Kentucky capable of shooting poorly
Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 By Harry King LITTLE ROCK - Using recent history to decipher an upcoming college basketball game is risky at best and can be plumb embarrassing. Few things in sports make less sense than college scores, particularly from January on when teams are in conference play. Despite that, it is the history of this Kentucky team that offers great hope for Arkansas on Saturday in Fayetteville. Although the best of the Southeastern Conference, the seventh-ranked Wildcats shoot poorly from to time. No matter how talented a team, sub-par shooting is a great equalizer. Kentucky is 15-2, 6-0 in the SEC after Tuesday night's 84-62 victory over Tennessee. The Wildcats shot well and won by more than 10 at Knoxville for the first time since 1998. The four times Kentucky has struggled against decent opponents this year, below par shooting has been the common denominator: -At North Carolina in December, the Wildcats shot .429, had a season-low 30 rebounds and lost by 13. They put up 25 3s against the Tar Heels. -At Louisville two weeks later, the Wildcats made 5-of-24 in the first half and fell behind by 16. They were superb in the second half and won 60-58 despite another mediocre 30-rebound game. -At Kansas early this month, the Wildcats shot .309, including a sorry .231 from 3-point range, and lost by six. -At Mississippi last week, the Wildcats shot .373, including 3-of-23 3s, and won 53-50. In the first half at Oxford, Kentucky made 5-of-24, scored 16 points and trailed by 13, almost identical numbers to the game at Louisville. The Wildcats rallied as everybody knew they would, but at 51-50, the Rebels' Kendrick Fox missed a 3-pointer with 19 seconds to play. More talented than the Rebels, Arkansas would love to be in a similar position. In fact, that is all the Razorbacks can ask - a legitimate chance to win with two minutes to play. For Arkansas, the timing is perfect. Rolling over Auburn last week should do wonders for the Razorbacks' karma. And, an entire week to get ready for the Wildcats is a bonus. By Saturday, there should be no question about this pass or that offensive set or who is supposed to get in the face of 3-point specialist Patrick Sparks. Before Kentucky smacked Tennessee on Tuesday night, I thought that the better the Wildcats shot against the Vols, the better the chance they would tail off in Fayetteville. Kentucky hit 47.4 percent in the first half, including 6-of-13 3s, and 48.3 percent for the night. Last Saturday, the Wildcats made a season-high 11 3s and shot .542 in a rout of LSU. Sometimes, it's difficult to shoot well three games in a row. The performance at Ole Miss followed .578 at Vanderbilt and .556 at Georgia. If the Wildcats are a little off, the question is how will the Razorbacks respond when face-to-face with such an opportunity. The players who sign with Kentucky know to expect the opponent's best and won't submit no matter how bad the situation. For Arkansas, it is encouraging that the Razorbacks might be one of the few teams in the SEC that can sub with the Wildcats. Kentucky had nine players put in 11 minutes or more against Tennessee and Chuck Hayes' on-court time would have been much more if not for a broken nose in the first half. Hayes, who has started 92 straight at Kentucky, says he will be in the lineup against Arkansas. Far and away, he is the Wildcats' best rebounder and one of their top scorers. In each of last three games, Arkansas has had at least nine players with 10 minutes each. The surprise has been Michael Jones, a senior who has played 70 minutes in the last three games after totaling three minutes in the three previous games. If Kentucky wins by 12, no one should be shocked. The same goes for 65-64 with 1:38 to play. ----- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media Group's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
