Kentucky @ Arkansas preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 26, 2019 ) Arkansas 66, Kentucky 70

Kentucky hopes to avoid back-to-back losses on the road when the 12th-ranked Wildcats face a test against Arkansas on Saturday afternoon in a matchup of two of the four teams tied for second place in the SEC. Kentucky was cruising along with four straight wins and a 14-point lead in the second half at South Carolina on Wednesday before suffering a humbling 81-78 setback.

Wildcats coach John Calipari was not pleased with his team’s discipline on offense with the lead, but told reporters: “It gets no easier in this league. Every road game in this league is a hard game. And this was a hard game. Give them credit. It wasn’t us. They were physical, they made every free throw when they had to.” Kentucky will try to regain some momentum and extend its winning streak in the series to eight against Arkansas, which can improve to 4-1 in the league for the first time since going 9-1 to start SEC play in 1997-98. The Razorbacks won the past two contests - 76-72 at Ole Miss last weekend and at home against Vanderbilt 75-55 on Wednesday - without strong performances from their leader in scoring (18.1), rebounding (6.1) and assists (3.6) in Mason Jones as the junior guard went 3-for-19 combined from the field. Sophomore guard Isaiah Joe matched a career high with 34 points against Ole Miss and senior backcourt mate Jimmy Whitt Jr. scored a career-best 30 in the easy win over Vanderbilt.

TIME: 4 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN

ABOUT KENTUCKY (12-4, 3-1 SEC): Sophomore guard Immanuel Quickley continued his scoring surge with 20 against South Carolina and is averaging 19 over the last five games to boost his season mark to 13.7 - second on the team. Freshman guard Tyrese Maxey (13.9) has a slight lead in the scoring department while 6-11 junior center Nick Richards adds 13.1 points on 67.7 percent shooting and a team-best 7.7 rebounds with three double-doubles in the past five contests. Sophomore point guard Ashton Hagans adds 13.1 points per game and his 7.3 assists ranked ninth in the country entering Friday’s contests.

ABOUT ARKANSAS (14-2, 3-1): Jones contributed 17 assists despite his shooting woes over the last two games and Joe is close behind in scoring (17.8) after draining at least four 3-pointers in seven of his past eight games. Whitt (14.8 points), a transfer from SMU, is scoring 18.8 per game over the past four and sophomore guard Desi Sills chips in 10 per contest after registering 13 against Vanderbilt. Sophomore forward Reggie Chaney scored a season-high 14 versus Vanderbilt - more than 10 above his season average - after managing just two combined over his previous three outings.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Razorbacks lead the nation is 3-point field-goal percentage defense at 22.8 and Kentucky shoots 32.1 percent from behind the arc.

2. Hagans has recorded five or more assists in 13 straight contests, the longest streak for the Wildcats since Tyler Ulis’ 24-game run in 2015-16.

3. Arkansas senior F Adrio Bailey has at least one block in 15 of 16 games and is tied for fourth in the SEC with 1.9 per game.

PREDICTION: Kentucky 76, Arkansas 70