NCAA Basketball: Auburn exposed, Dayton’s X-factor, and more weekly takeaways

2) Arkansas isn’t quite there yet

Another SEC team facing questions about their legitimacy despite a lofty record was Arkansas, who had their biggest game of the season on Saturday against Kentucky.

For about 35 minutes, it looked like they had answered all of those questions. They had fallen behind early, gotten back in the game on the strength of their defense, and led by three thanks to some aggressive drives to the basket.

In that sense, Arkansas showed they’re a legitimate NCAA Tournament team who is deserving of an at-large bid – but the final five or six minutes showed why they’re a tier below the true contenders in the SEC.

After losing the lead, Kentucky (led by a John Calipari ejection) raised their intensity level and changed their defense, packing the paint to force Arkansas to beat them from the outside. The Razorbacks couldn’t match on either front, allowing UK to reel off a 15-0 run that ultimately proved to be the difference in the game.

Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman told reporters after the game that his team’s ineffectiveness during that stretch was caused by a lack of poise.

“I thought their defense during the scoring drought, they went zone and kept the lane compact. I thought we forced some shots. I thought in the second half we settled in a lot better up until that scoring drought. But look, this one hurts.”

It comes down to this – Kentucky has some experience in these situations and knew what they needed to do to win the game. Arkansas didn’t and was unable to adjust, partially due to personnel limitations and partially due to inexperience.

The future is bright in Fayetteville, but Saturday showed this group’s ceiling.