MBB Preview: Arkansas vs #6 Kentucky Wildcats

Who: Arkansas Razorbacks (10-9, 1-5 SEC) vs #6/6 Kentucky Wildcats (14-4, 4-2 SEC)
What: Arkansas hosts ESPN GameDay (10-11 am) and Kentucky (5 pm) for the ESPN featured game of the day.
When: Saturday – Jan. 27 – 5 pm (CT)
Where: Fayetteville, Ark. • Bud Walton Arena – Nolan Richardson Court (19,200)
How (to follow):
– TV/Stream: ESPN/Watch ESPN (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas and Jess Simms)
– Radio: Learfield Razorback Sports Network (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)
– Sirius/XM: 382 Sirius / 382 XM / 972 SXM App
– Westwood One Radio (Lance Medow and Steve Lappas).
– Arkansas Live Stats
– Razorback Gameday App

– Arkansas Game Notes
– Kentucky Game Notes
– SEC Notes/Stats       ­

FAYETTEVILLE – Saturday will be a big day for Arkansas basketball as the ESPN GameDay will broadcast live from Bud Walton Arena on Nolan Richardson Court from 10-11 am (CT) then the Razorbacks will host #6 Kentucky for the ESPN featured game of the day at 5 pm (CT).

Fans may attend ESPN GameDay for free and the doors open to the public at 9 am. The arena will be cleared after the show to prepare the arena for the game.

NOTES:

• Arkansas and Kentucky have met on 48 previous occasions, all but four coming since Arkansas joined the SEC (1991-92).
• Kentucky owns a 34-14 advantage in the series, including a 30-14 mark in SEC games. In games played in Fayetteville, Kentucky took a 9-8 lead with a win last season.
• Kentucky snapped a three-game losing streak to the Razorbacks with an 88-79 victory in Bud Walton Arena in the 2022-23 season finale. Earlier in the season, Arkansas took down the Wildcats, 88-73 in Rupp Arena.
• This is the first of two meetings between the programs this season and the second straight season the two teams play twice in a season. This is just the third time since Arkansas joined the SEC that the Razorbacks and Wildcats face each other twice in the regular season. The only other time came in 2013-14 when Arkansas swept Kentucky with a pair of overtime victories. First, Arkansas beat #13 Kentucky in Fayetteville (Jan. 14, 2014). Then, the Razorbacks handed the 17th-ranked Wildcats a 71-67 setback in Rupp Arena (Feb. 27, 2014).
• This is the 10-year anniversary of Michael Qualls’ game-winning dunk at the buzzer which is being celebrated on HOGS+ “Walk on Air.”
• Arkansas is 7-11 all-time versus teams ranked #6 in AP poll, including a 4-3 mark in Fayetteville. Of note, the last time Arkansas faced the AP #6 team was Kentucky, a 75-73 victory on Feb. 26, 2022, in Bud Walton Arena.
• Bud Walton Arena ­— the Basketball Palace of Mid-America ­— will add another milestone to its illustrious resume when ESPN GameDay broadcasts live from Nolan Richardson Court on Saturday from 10-11 am (CT). In its 20th season, GameDay is making its first trip to Bud Walton Arena. (Note: Football GameDay was on the Arkansas campus in 2006 for the Arkansas-Tennessee game, a game Arkansas won.) GameDay’s trip to Bud Walton Arena is the show’s first on-campus visit for the 2023-24 season.
• Arkansas had eight rejections at Ole Miss (thanks to three from Joseph Pinion) but remained at #3 in the NCAA rankings. Arkansas has had at least one player with 3 blocked shots in 11 of the 19 games and 5 of the 6 SEC games. Interestingly, Arkansas has no players in the NCAA top 140 nor in the SEC top 8 but is the only team with 3 players among the SEC top 10 in blocked shots and four in the top 15.

For more information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on Twitter.