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Kentucky Has Shown Clear Weakness Arkansas Must capitalize Upon

Wildcats start cold, struggle against physical athletic teams like Razorbacks
Kent Smith|
South Carolina guard Meechie Johnson (5) drives between Arkansas forward Nick Pringle (23) and wing Billy Richmond III (24) during the second half at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 108-74.
South Carolina guard Meechie Johnson (5) drives between Arkansas forward Nick Pringle (23) and wing Billy Richmond III (24) during the second half at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 108-74. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

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Arkansas RazorbacksKentucky Wildcats

It was a week where a hot Kentucky team was supposed to pick up a pair of big wins over ranked SEC teams on the road to get back into the AP poll while solidfying Mark Pope officially as the man in Lexington.

Well, considering how rough things have been with the Big Blue Nation fan base Wednesday morning following a 25-point blowout suffered at the hands of Vanderbilt while John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks went on the rough and squeezed out a tough 83-79 win over Oklahoma, it's not going to be a good few days to be a Kentucky Wildcat.

One thing that continued to play out that will be key for Arkansas to come away with a second consecutive win against Kentucky under Calipari is cold shooting early by the Wildcats. It's kind of become a trademark.

And while Pope was able to get his team to make a run late to bounce back against the likes of Tennessee and LSU, that simply wasn't going to happen against Vanderbilt. For all the natural weaknesses the Commodores have built in because of lack of size, their one strength is to pressure the ball hard, make life hard on whomever has it, and force turnovers.

Fortunately for Arkansas when they played the Commodores a week ago, Calipari's guards were especially gifted at controlling the ball, which eliminated Vandy's biggest weapon, allowing the Hogs to take advantage of their superior size and athleticism en route to a 93-68 blowout win over the team with the best overall record in the SEC.

That didn't happen for Kentucky. Vanderbilt's defense got into their heads immediately, forcing the Wildcats to miss their first seven shots in addition to a pair of free throws to start the game.

The Commodores then forced 15 turnovers, and before anyone could blink, the lead was over 20 points in the first half. That's a carbon copy of what Arkansas can do, and will need to do if the Hogs want to avoid Kentucky doing to them what the Razorbacks pulled off in an 89-79 upset that saved Calipari's bacon by turning around what to that point was a very rough season.

Arkansas will need to get out fast, taking advantage of the Wildcats traditional cold starts, and not let off the gas. The second the Hogs get complacent is when they get turned into Kentucky's next big comeback win.

One big problem the Wildcats faced in Nashville was an extreme lack of intensity. The team hit the floor and simply went through the motions and got boat raced for disrespecting the Commodores with such effort.

"We just didn't have the intensity to hit first," Pope said. "We got punched in the mouth pretty good, and we just didn't respond — at all — in this game. And so us getting ourselves to an emotional, heightened point, where we come to compete from the tip, where we want to be the instigators of confrontation rather than receivers, is really important."

It's unlikely Kentucky is going to lack intensity at the tip against Arkansas. This is a game that has been taken serious by the Wildcats ever since Nolan Richardson's Razorbacks walking into what was supposed to be Kentucky's conference and slapped them with a 105-88 beat down of the then No. 9 Wildcats in Lexington en route to a national championship as an introduction of what's to come.

Plus, Pope knows he can't afford to get blown out and then lose to Calipari by looking disinterested in Fayetteville. The seat will get really hot after that even though he will still be in good shape to make the NCAA Tournament.

Although, considering that would make Kentucky 2-7 against ranked opponents, one of which is no longer ranked in Tennessee, while the other, St. John's, just crept into the rankings at No. 25, the Wildcats might not get that great of a seed.

Still, there is one thing that was incredibly confusing about Wednesday's loss for Kentucky. Pope talked regularly after the game about the physicality of Vanderbilt and how his team just wasn't up to the challenge.

For those who watched Arkansas play the Commodores, the one thing that was evident was their extreme inability to produce any physicality. The Hogs pushed them around all game whether it be with the guards driving from the perimeter or with the big men down low.

"It's been a space where we've been fighting a difficult battle all year long to get our guys to kind of embrace this idea of like being incredibly physical and forceful to earn possessions for teammates," Pope said on the UK Sports Network. "And we didn't do that at all. (Vanderbilt's) switching hurt us. Their physicality hurt us. Their heavy bottoms hurt us. Their volume at the rim hurt us, and we just failed to make the plays that you need to make in that situation actually combat that."

It's unclear where these heavy bottoms came from at Vanderbilt. Perhaps being shut in by all the ice caused the Commodores to pack on the food while waiting on Kentucky to make it to town, but that seems unlikely.

If Vanderbilt was a physical threat, then the Hogs should look like the Navy Seals walking out onto the court. For the first time perhaps in the history of this rivalry, it possibly needs to be said that the Razorbacks need to be careful about being too overconfident.

That seems strange to say about a team that was riding a five-game winning streak before falling flat on its face against the Commodores, but Kentucky's penchant for getting behind big early, despite the comebacks, makes it easy for the Razorbacks to believe they can simply do exactly what Vanderbilt did. Get out big early and keep their feet on the Wildcats throats throughout the second half.

Case in point, Kentucky has trailed by at least 17 points at the half in three of its last five games. In fact, the Wildcats have only led twice in 14 games against Power Four opponents.

Then there's this stat that went out recently in regard to a lack of focus in the first half throughout the span of Pope's short tenure in Lexington.

Kentucky has trailed by 15 points in nearly 25% of its games against Power Four teams under Pope. It's unclear why, but it's something Arkansas has to hope will take place Saturday.

At that point, it will come down to whether Calipari can just get his team to keep its intensity up while remaining focused on both ends of the floor. All indicators are the athleticism and physicality of the Razorbacks will be a problem.

If so, Pope won't have to worry about the cold from any more winter storms that may pass through the Southeast this year. His seat will be plenty hot to keep him toasty.

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Kent Smith
KENT SMITH

Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments. 

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