Preview and Thread: Stakes Getting High For Arkansas And Kentucky

Time: 8 p.m. CT

TV: ESPN

Line: Arkansas -4, O/U: 153

More on the Wildcats

Kentucky had made a living off getting the most of very talented freshmen. This year they’ve taken that to an extreme, starting five freshmen in every game this year. That’s led to some more losses than has become expected from John Calipari teams. Their last game they rebounded from a four game losing streak, the longest in the Calipari era. Even though it hasn’t been the year they’ve come to expect, it’s still a very long, athletic, and talented team.

Projected Starters

Arkansas will go with four seniors and if Trey Thompson comes in with this line up we could very well see five seniors line up against five freshmen. For Kentucky, their highest scorer and likely highest draft pick is Kevin Knox. The Wildcats don’t have any elite shooters, Knox has hit the most this year and outside of that they won’t take many shots from outside.

3 Key Stats

Kentucky doesn’t shoot a ton of threes, and they don’t make a lot of them. On the defensive end that makes them very good at defending the three point line. Arkansas relies on those shots a lot so that will be an interesting matchup of strengths to watch. Kentucky’s inexperience has also led to a lot more turnovers than usual. Arkansas in this one will have to hit threes and minimize the Wildcats’ possessions by getting steals and rebounding well.