Anthony Black recorded 19 points, five assists and five steals to propel Arkansas to an impressive 88-73 victory over Kentucky on Tuesday night in Southeastern Conference play at Lexington, Ky.
Ricky Council IV scored a team-high 20 points and Davonte Davis had 15 points and seven assists as the Razorbacks (17-7, 6-5 SEC) won for the fifth time in the past six games. Makhel Mitchell scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and blocked five shots, while Jordan Walsh had 13 points for Arkansas.
Cason Wallace registered 24 points and three steals as the Wildcats (16-8, 7-4) lost for just the second time in their past eight games. Chris Livingston added 13 points, Jacob Toppin had 11 points and eight rebounds and Antonio Reeves also scored 11 points for Kentucky.
Wildcats big man Oscar Tshiebwe had just seven points, seven rebounds and three steals. The reigning national player of the year has just 11 total points over the past two games.
Kentucky’s Sahvir Wheeler missed the contest after aggravating a right ankle injury in Monday’s practice.
Arkansas shot a stellar 62.7 percent from the field, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range. Makhi Mitchell, the twin brother of Makhel, collected nine rebounds as the Razorbacks won their second straight road game to improve to 2-5 on the season.
The Wildcats connected on 46.8 percent of their shots and were 4 of 13 from behind the arc.
The Razorbacks seized control with an 8-0 run to elevate their lead to 72-58 with 6:40 left in the contest. Black scored two baskets during the burst and Council and Davis had one apiece.
Council later hit two free throws to make it 78-62 with 4:02 remaining. The Wildcats made a slight push and trailed 84-73 after Wallace hit a trey with 1:21 left before Walsh and Davis each made two free throws to push the margin to 15 as Arkansas closed out its third straight win over Kentucky.
Davis scored nine first-half points as the Razorbacks held a 41-40 lead at the break. Wallace had 11 points in the half for the Wildcats.
Arkansas scored the first six points of the second half — including Black twice recording steals and driving for baskets — to take a 47-40 lead with 18:41 left in the contest.
–Field Level Media
