SEC: Kentucky Wildcats, LSU Tigers make big statements

Kentucky punched Arkansas in the mouth early

The word “punched” could have been used for Saturday’s Kentucky-Arkansas match-up, one game that was televised to be a must-see pay-per-view type of event. Well, it was a must-see event only to the individuals rocking blue and white.

In Saturday’s Southeastern Conference primed match-up with two teams that are sitting on top of the conference, top-ranked Kentucky (29-0, 16-0 SEC) made a statement that was heard all over college basketball, dismantling No. 18 Arkansas 84-67 inside the raucous Rupp Arena.

The Razorbacks kept it close against the Wildcats in the opening minutes, but Kentucky started to run away with it and never looked back. Arkansas’ ending of its three-game winning streak started with Karl Anthony-Towns (eight points, five rebounds) hooking up with Trey Lyles for the alley-oop.

When it came to scoring offense, Arkansas was the alpha dog in that category, averaging 79.5 points per game. But the Wildcats were able to hold the Razorbacks under 40 percent shooting and 12 points below their scoring average. While Kentucky’s defense was clicking on all cylinders, Lyles and Andrew Harrison each had 18 points to help the Wildcats earn the program’s best ever start, the top seed in next month’s SEC tournament, possibly the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament, and the program’s 46^th league title.

Since John Calipari has arrived at Kentucky, he has won three SEC regular-season titles.

Tyler Ulis added 14 and Devin Booker pitched in 10 points for a Kentucky team that went 21-for-28 from the free throw line, shot 57 percent in the second half, and scored 16 points off of Arkansas’ 12 turnovers. After the first 20 minutes, the Wildcats led 42-26 and outrebounded Mike Anderson’s team 24-18.

Here’s another stat line to add to the beat down the Razorbacks took: Arkansas (23-6, 12-3) shot 30 percent from the field overall and went 0-for-9 from deep through the first 20 minutes.

Ole Miss ran into a brick wall in Baton Rouge

Ole Miss (19-10, 10-6 SEC) lost its second straight game to LSU 73-63 inside Pete Maravich Assembly Center Saturday afternoon. Also, the Tigers completed the season sweep against the Rebels.

Tim Quarterman had a career day, finishing with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists to lead LSU (21-8, 10-6).

The last time a Tigers’ player scored a triple-double was Shaquille O’Neal back in 1992. The Rebels didn’t have an answer for Quarterman, Jarell Martin (18 points, 12 rebounds), or Keith Hornsby, who went 4-for-7 from 3-point range to finish with 16 points. Jordan Mickey added 11 points on 5-for-14 shooting.

Once again, it was Ole Miss’ offense that lacked firepower; the same performance fans witnessed in the team’s 76-72 loss to Georgia. Stefan Moody led the team in scoring with 15, but shot 3-for-16 from the field. Jarvis Summers was on the bench for majority, if not all, of the second half and managed to finish with four points, four assists, and one rebound in 19 minutes. One man can’t win a game by himself.

With the SEC tournament coming up, the Rebels will need to do some soul searching and figure out what went wrong on offense. If not, Andy Kennedy’s team might be on the outside looking in on Selection Sunday.

Next: SEC Basketball: Biggest Surprises, Biggest Disappointments

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