Three Things to Know about the #15 Arkansas Razorbacks

Mark Pope and Kentucky basketball are looking to bounce back from an embarrassing 25-point loss to Vandy in Nashville as their five-game win streak was snapped as they now are set to face John Calipari and the 15th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday in a hostile environment down in Fayetteville. It's not just a hostile environment that the Wildcats need to be worried about. The Razorbacks play an exciting brand of basketball to back it up.

Arkansas is coming into Saturday ranked second in the SEC with a 6-2 record and feature one of the best offenses not just in the conference, but in all of college basketball. The Razorbacks are 6th nationally in offensive efficiency, including 9th in turnover percentage, 24th in three-point percentage, 48th in two-point percentage and 20th in overall effective field goal percentage. In SEC play, their efficiency has been evident and it has led to a lot of points being put up. The Razorbacks even put up 93 points in a 25-point win over Vandy, who Ketucky just got embarrassed against.

John Calipari has the Arkansas Razorbacks as a top 15 team and firmly in the hunt for the SEC regular season title through eight games in conference. Here are three things Kentucky fans need to know about their former coach's squad this season before they face off on Saturday night.

Arkansas has a very dangerous offense

We mentioned this previously, but Arkansas has an elite offense and it has only improved since conference play began. Nationally, the Razorbacks are ranked 6th in offensive efficiency, including 9th in turnover percentage, 24th in three-point percentage, 48th in two-point percentage and 20th in overall effective field-goal percentage. Then, there's SEC play, where they have clearly taken a jump. Not only did they defeat Vandy by 25, who Kentucky is coming off a loss against, but Arkansas has put together very high scoring splits. In conference play, the Razorbacks have scored 108 against South Carolina, 94 against Ole Miss, 93 against Vandy and 86 against Tennessee. They are also lethal in transition, as they rank second in college basketball in fast-break points.

In SEC play, Arkansas is second in the conference in offensive efficiency, first in effective field-goal percentage and two-point percentage, as well as fourth in three-point percentage. Like Vandy, they are also terrific at taking care of the ball, as they rank 9th in the country in turnover percentage, 19th in steals and 11th in blocks. In their last time out on the road at Oklahoma, they put up 81 points despite going 2-17 from three because of their ability to score from inside. Their ball-movement is the key for them, as they assist on nearly every made basket and as you can see, are elite at doing it and can score from both inside and from three. An area Kentucky may be able to exploit is forcing turnovers, as Arkansas is 10th in the SEC in steal percentage, while they are first in conference play in steals.

Darius Acuff is the star to watch for Arkansas

Why is Arkansas so good at scoring the ball efficiently? It's all because of star point guard Darius Aciff, who does not only average 20.2 points per game on 49.7 percent shooting and 41.4 percent from three, but he is also averaging 6.3 assists per game. Acuff is the second-most efficient passer in the SEC, ranking second in the conference in assist rate, assisting on 32.9 percent of his passes. As you can see from his scoring averages, it's not just Acuff's passing you have to worry about. Fans can see why he has the highest usage rate of anyone on the Razorbacks squad. He is coming off a 21-point night to go along with nine assists against the Oklahoma Sooners. Acuff has scored 20-plus points in five of their eight SEC games so far.

Razorbacks have been excellent protecting home court

We have already talked about Arkansas having an electric offense. Well, it has essentially been true in all of their home games this season and especially in SEC play. The Razorbacks are the top two-point offense in the conference with one of the more efficient offenses to back it up, but they have been putting up a lot of points at home. They are 5-0 in Bud Walton Arena so far in conference play, with wins over Tennessee, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Vandy and LSU, putting up over 80 points in each of them.

Overall, Kentucky is going to be faced with an even bigger challenge defensively, because Arkansas' offense is not only extremely efficient at taking care of the ball, but have been one of the best offenses in the conference and excellent in a number of different ways.