Antonio Reeves scored 22 points and D.J. Wagner added 19 as No. 16 Kentucky notched a high-octane 111-102 victory over Arkansas on Saturday afternoon in Southeastern Conference play at Lexington, Ky.
Aaron Bradshaw and Rob Dillingham scored 15 points apiece and Zvonimir Ivisic had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats (21-8, 11-5 SEC), who won their third consecutive game. Reed Sheppard and Justin Edwards added 10 points for Kentucky, which topped 100 points for the sixth time this season.
Khalif Battle scored 34 points for Arkansas and has scored 112 over the past three games. Tramon Mark recorded 23 points and four steals, Jeremiah Davenport added 14 points and Makhi Mitchell scored 13 for the Razorbacks (14-15, 5-11), who lost their second straight game.
Kentucky shot 56.7 percent from the field, including 9 of 20 from 3-point range.
Arkansas connected on 53.1 percent of its field-goal attempts and was 7 of 17 from behind the arc. Battle also had eight rebounds.
Kentucky led 60-50 early in the second half after Wagner’s driving basket.
The Razorbacks answered with a 12-1 run and took a 62-61 lead on Mitchell’s dunk with 15:24 left in the game.
The Wildcats responded with a 9-2 run and took a six-point lead on two free throws by Reeves with 13:13 remaining.
Then Arkansas rattled off 12 of the next 15 points to take a 76-73 lead with 10:50 left. Battle scored the final seven Razorbacks points during the run.
After Reeves scored a basket for Kentucky, the Razorbacks tallied eight more in a row behind two 3-pointers from Davenport and a basket by Mark to take an 84-75 advantage with 9:06 to play.
The Wildcats then scored 23 of the next 31 points. It began with a 16-6 run that saw Dillingham score on a layup to give Kentucky a 91-90 lead with 5:23 to play.
Davenport made two free throws to put Arkansas back in the lead with 4:59 left. However, Edwards scored on a dunk to start a run of seven straight Wildcats’ points as Kentucky took a 98-92 lead.
A 3-pointer by Edwards pushed Kentucky’s lead to 107-98 with 1:25 remaining. Wagner added a layup with 44.5 seconds left as the Wildcats finished off their 11th win in the past 14 meetings with the Razorbacks.
Reeves scored 14 first-half points and Bradshaw added 12 as Kentucky led 53-48 at the break. Mark scored 15 and Battle had 13 in the half for the Razorbacks.
–Field Level Media