Saturday Quickies: Beat Arkansas Edition

Even though the Kentucky Wildcats took a bad loss on Wednesday night in Columbia against the South Carolina Gamecocks, they are still in position to win the SEC regular season. The only team without a conference loss is the LSU Tigers.

Today is a big one as the Cats travel to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks in what will surely be a rocking Bud Walton Arena. The Razorbacks are 14-2 on the season and they are 3-1 in the SEC, tied for second with Kentucky.

Eric Musselman has done a great job without much of a roster. The Hogs do have two guards that can light it up in a hurry with Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe. Arkansas lacks in size but they play a fast paced, high scoring game that could give the Cats trouble.

The more I watch UK the more I’m concerned that they are really just a four man team. If one or two of those four of Tyrese Maxey, Immanuel Quickley, Nick Richards, and Ashton Hagans have an off game or get into foul trouble, the options on the bench take a dive.

We’ve been waiting all season long for one or two more players to join the Fab Four but we are still waiting and it’s January. Maybe today will be a breakout for one of them but it isn’t something you can come to trust.

Tweets of the Day

Mike Pratt is right on the money. Kentucky is going to have a major advantage in the size department therefore they need to control the boards. Rebounding numbers shouldn’t be close if they want to win.

That is one UGLY hotel room.

Hope the guys get the message because there was little fight in most of them on Wednesday. The Gamecocks imposed their will on them.

Quickies

Cats try to move on past the disappointing loss to South Carolina | Cats Pause- I know many of the fans wanted to blame the refs for the loss. The refs were atrocious, but the refs didn’t score 56 points in the second half. Time to move on today.

Johnny Juzang wants to see rewards for his hard work | Lexington Herald Leader- Juzang was brought in as a three point specialist and it just has not translated. He’s 2-15 on the year. He says he is practicing hard and he has confidence in his shot. I believe one of those two statements.

UK announces football season tickets information | UK Athletics- The prices are down as the Athletic Department is finally doing something to cater to the common fan.

Greg Brown blogs about UK visit | Sports Illustrated- I think Kentucky needs one more big man in their stellar 2020 class and Greg Brown is the best one available. He seemed to have loved his visit and he was in awe of the atmosphere. He’s in no rush to decide so it looks like a springtime commitment.

CBS experts slit on UK vs. Arkansas | CBS- The Razorbacks have been good this season but they don’t have a win over a top 25 team yet. This would be a major win for their program.

Kentucky now has three losses to sub-100 KenPom teams — which is three times as many as any other team currently ranked in the AP Top 25 poll. That’s obviously not good. And the Wildcats are now entering what should be an incredible atmosphere at Bud Walton Arena to face an opponent that’s 14-2 and undefeated at home. Right now, Kentucky is ranked and Arkansas isn’t. But, come Monday, those roles could be reversed because I do believe the Razorbacks will hand UK its second straight loss. Pick: Arkansas -1 (Gary Parrish)

ESPN experts split as well | ESPN- It’s 50/50 over at ESPN as to whether or not the Cats can go on the road and get a Quad 1 win to erase the loss to a team outside of the Kenpom top 100. Kentucky’s third loss of that caliber of the season.