FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas basketball has not lost in Rupp Arena under Eric Musselman.
In his tenure, the Razorbacks are 2-0 on Kentucky’s home floor. They took down the Wildcats 81-80 in February 2021 and 88-73 last February.
An opportunity to move to 3-0 awaits on Saturday. But it will be a tall task.
Musselman regularly relays that previous games have no bearing on future contests. He’s right. Those wins do not and will not influence this weekend’s matchup with No. 16 Kentucky in the slightest.
But, this Arkansas team, which sits 14-14 overall and 5-10 in the SEC, could take a few things away from those that found success in Rupp Arena, like confidence, toughness, grit and belief.
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“Hopefully this year’s team can carry some of those characteristics into the game,” Musselman said Thursday. “If you don’t have those characteristics, it’s going to be hard to win in Rupp.”
The Razorbacks lost but gave the talent-rich Wildcats a run for their money on Jan. 27 in Bud Walton Arena because those traits were present. Can they do it again but with improved execution in some key areas?
Three-point defense is a must for Arkansas this go-around. Kentucky, which was 9 of 20 from deep in the first meeting and 7 of 11 after halftime, is the No. 1 three-point shooting team in the country at 40.7%.
The Wildcats, too, are No. 1 in SEC action at 40.1%.
That part of the game will be intriguing to track given the Razorbacks have defended the three well of late. In the last 6 games, Arkansas’ opponents hit just 26.7% of their 105 attempts.
“A lot of drills,” Musselman said when asked what spearheaded the progress. “That was a hole that we had. We know it was one of our weaknesses, and we’ve done a really good job of fixing that. Obviously we still have other areas we’ve got to continue to fix.
“Can’t plug one hole then find another hole. Trying to play more consistent basketball, both individually and collectively, continues to be something we want to do moving forward.”
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Kentucky has three players – Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham, Antonio Reeves – shooting 42.5% or better from deep in SEC play on healthy volume. All three have made 30-plus triples in 2024.
Musselman also stressed the importance of valuing possession and quality shot selection.
In the first matchup, the Wildcats scored 12 points — 11 in a 39-point second half — off 13 Razorback turnovers. Kentucky is second in the league in fast-break points per game (14.3) as well, per CBB Analytics.
“Got to get back, got to declare the ball, got to keep the ball in front of you,” Musselman added. “It all starts with your own shot selection. If you miss shots, the other team is going to have an opportunity to get out in transition, so shot-making becomes important, which, you know, hopefully we can make some shots and that’ll help our transition defense.
“[There are] a lot of areas that we’ve got to do a good job of in transition.”