Kentucky upsets Arkansas, beating former coach John Calipari along the way

Kentucky entered Bud Walton Arena on Saturday and left with an 85-77 victory against No. 15 Arkansas. The Wildcats’ victory over former coach John Calipari was not only symbolic, but marked their best win of the season. Kentucky (15-7, 6-3 SEC) entered the weekend 3-6 against Quad 1 opponents, and this win over the Razorbacks (16-6, 6-3) could be just what Mark Pope’s team needed to get back on track for good.

Entering the game, Pope and Calipari had identical records of 38-19 since taking over their respective programs last season. To draw even more parallels, Arkansas’ win over Kentucky last year on the road got Calipari’s team back on track after a disappointing start.

A year ago, the Razorbacks started 1-6 against SEC competition before going 7-5 the rest of the regular season/SEC Tournament to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky still has its flaws and the injuries could ultimately derail a deep run in March, but getting the first win over Calipari since his high-profile departure is one of the most important wins Pope will have as coach of his alma mater.

While the start of SEC play wasn’t all that disastrous for Kentucky, this is the kind of win that could turn things around. Somehow, Kentucky is just 1.5 games behind Texas A&M for first place in the conference heading into February. Before UK suffered a 25-point loss to Vanderbilt earlier this week, Pope’s squad had won five straight games against SEC opponents.

As Kentucky star Otega Oweh put it, this game was “personal” for his team.

‘It was definitely personal’ Oweh told the ESPN broadcast. “More so, the fact that the last time we played, the last time we did that, we didn’t represent Kentucky well. We had to wait a few days to do that. We were eager to get back out there.”

Oweh steps up for Kentucky

It’s no secret that the preseason SEC Player of the Year didn’t start the season strong. Since the beginning of conference play, however, Oweh has been the consistent scoring presence Kentucky needs. He has scored at least 20 points in seven of Kentucky’s nine conference games, including a 24-point outburst against Arkansas.

Those 24 points marked a season high for Oweh, coming less than a week after he scored 23 points in a win over Ole Miss. His resurgence also comes at a time when star guard Jaland Lowe has already been ruled out for the season, and big man Jayden Quaintance – Kentucky’s best NBA draft prospect on the roster – has no timeline to return. At the best version of Kentucky right now, Oweh plays like this.

Oweh shot 9 of 12 from the floor and added eight rebounds and three assists. Although he missed his only three-point attempt, his team had one of the most efficient performances of the year. Kentucky shot 6 of 13 (46.2%) from beyond the arc, marking its second-highest three-point shooting percentage of the season.

One of the biggest factors that made the first year of Pope’s tenure so successful was Oweh’s breakout and how well his team shot from beyond the arc. Last season, Kentucky shot 37.5% from the three-point line as a team, which was ranked No. 24 in Division I. This season has been a different story, as Kentucky is shooting just 33.9% from the three-point line. That number is in the middle of the pack (No. 185) for Division I teams.

This game was déjà vu for several reasons. Kentucky was efficient from the three-point line, Oweh looked like the player he was last season, and on top of that, Kentucky was able to flip the script after losing as a favorite at home to these Razorbacks last season.

Bracketological implications

Kentucky entered the day ranked No. 7 in CBS Sports’ latest Bracketology projections, while Arkansas was ranked No. 5. The Wildcats now have three wins over ranked opponents (St. John’s and Tennessee) after beating Arkansas. Notably, Kentucky still has six games remaining against Quad 1 opponents for the remainder of the regular season. The Wildcats still have to play Tennessee, Florida (twice), Auburn, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

There’s still more work to be done for Kentucky to feel completely safe on Selection Sunday, but this is the best win of the season – for many reasons and it’s not close. Sure, Kentucky rallied from a 17-point deficit against Tennessee on the road earlier this month, but getting a win over a top-15 opponent is a huge resume builder for the Wildcats.

Acuff struggles early, but gets going in the second half

The top NBA Draft prospect playing in this game, with Quaintance sidelined, was Darius Acuff Jr. from Arkansas. The Razorbacks’ star guard struggled in the first half against Kentucky (five points, 2-of-10 from the floor), but came on strong in the final 20 minutes to give his team the lead back midway through the second half.

Acuff finished with 22 points and three assists. Acuff is the No. 13 player in the CBS Sports NBA Draft rankings. During Calipari’s first season at Arkansas, he did not make a first-round pick. The only player selected was Adou Thiero – who previously played for Calipari at Kentucky – in the second round. That ended Calipari’s streak of seventeen consecutive years of at least one first-round pick.

The good (and bad news) for Calipari is that a new series will start this summer. Acuff is arguably the best point guard in this class. During SEC play, he put up some efficient numbers while also producing a great turnover-to-assist ratio. Guards win games in March, and the best version of Arkansas involves Acuff playing at the highest level.