Kentucky vs. Arkansas: 2019-20 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

A scintillating SEC showdown will occur on Saturday afternoon, as Arkansas attempts to notch a signature success by upsetting Kentucky in Fayetteville.

TV schedule: Saturday, January 18, 4:00 pm ET. ESPN.
Arena: Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.

Arkansas will host Kentucky from Bud Walton Arena on Saturday afternoon, in a Southeastern Conference clash that is pivotal to the league race. The Razorbacks (14-2, 3-1) have won two straight, over Vanderbilt and Ole Miss, while the No. 10 Wildcats (12-4, 3-1) fell in their most-recent conference match-up, at South Carolina, as the Gamecocks crawled back from a massive second-half deficit and triumphed on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Under first-year head coach and former Nevada boss Eric Musselman, Arkansas has proven a pleasant SEC surprise to date in the 2019-20 campaign. With a current NCAA NET rating of No. 23, the Razorbacks have achieved on the road versus Georgia Tech and Indiana, and also against Texas A&M. Arkansas’ pair of setbacks are at Western Kentucky in overtime and at conference leader LSU by two points.

Kentucky, at No. 38 in the NET, is a difficult group to decipher. On the one hand, the Wildcats bested then-No. 1 Michigan State in the 2019-20 term opener, as well as then-No. 3 Louisville.

Conversely, Kentucky has experienced some puzzling defeats. Its quartet of losses, by a combined 15 points, are to the aforementioned South Carolina, Evansville, Utah and then-No. 5 Ohio State, a crew that has struggled of late.

Entering Saturday, the Razorbacks and the Wildcats are jumbled together in a four-way tie for second place behind LSU in the league standings, making this a critical collision. Furthermore, Arkansas and Kentucky want to enhance their positions for March Madness, with bracketologists presently deeming the Wildcats as a No. 5 seed and the Razorbacks as a No. 6 seed.

In delving into various statistics, Arkansas and Kentucky are fairly similar as it pertains to scoring on offense and points allowed on defense. Both are credible in their shooting percentages from the field as a whole, they each excel at the charity stripe, and neither is particularly stellar from beyond the arc.

By my estimation, this meeting will center on two primary facets – rebounding and turnovers. The Wildcats hold a sizable edge on the glass, and their big men must crash the offensive boards to generate second-chance points.

The Razorbacks, on the flip side, are a guard-dominate unit that produces about nine steals every 40 minutes and needs to create easy buckets out in transition stemming from its opponent’s miscues.

At this juncture, Arkansas is an impressive 11-0 on its own turf, and that’s why ESPN’s Basketball Power Index pegs it as a 65.4 percent favorite to prevail versus Kentucky. Overall in their series, the Wildcats are ahead by a wide margin, 32-11, although the Razorbacks are 7-7 at home.

I really like what Arkansas is doing so far in 2019-20, however, the Razorbacks haven’t played a super-strong docket. Sure, Kentucky is a tad inconsistent, but I don’t foresee the Wildcats dropping two-consecutive contests. Ultimately, Kentucky will grab a closely fought road tilt against Arkansas.

Prediction: Kentucky 69 – Arkansas 67