Kentucky Basketball: Keys to Remaining Undefeated vs. Arkansas

Stay the course or make some terrain-specific adjustments?

As Kentucky inches closer to regular-season perfection, each game that comes along prompts this query—whether the Wildcats need to tweak things in order to remain unbeaten or just keep on keeping-on. Yet Saturday's opponent might be the one above all others where this question really comes into play.

No. 18 Arkansas (23-5, 12-3 SEC) comes to Rupp Arena on Saturday as the hottest team in the conference not wearing blue and white. The Razorbacks have won seven in a row and 10 of 11, and most impressively they've figured out how to win on the road after struggling away from Fayetteville in previous seasons.

"It should be an exciting game," Arkansas coach Mike Anderson told reporters Thursday. "They're playing well, and we're playing well."

Arkansas has won the last three meetings, sweeping two matchups last season that included an overtime victory in Lexington. Six Razorbacks who scored in that last game are still around, but Kentucky has its latest crop of superstar freshmen who have put it over the hump this season.

What will it take for the Wildcats to remain on track for an undefeated regular season, as well as an outright SEC title? Here are some keys to consider.

A safe and prudent speed

Arkansas might not be the fastest team in the country, but it's pretty darn close. The Razorbacks rank eighth in possessions per 40 minutes at 70.9. Compare that to Kentucky, which at 63.8 possessions per 40 minutes ranks 249th.

This might seem like a lot, but because of those extra seven possessions that Arkansas gets each game it's able to put up more shots (and consequently score more points). The Hogs take nearly 62 shots per game, shooting 45.3 percent from the field, and combined with 225 steals they force the issue and dictate the tempo.

Overall they average 79.5 points per game, which is ninth-best in Division I.

Kentucky can score with the best of them, but it prefers to use defense to create offense and force opponents to grind things out. And surprisingly, the slower games have ended up being the ones where the Wildcats have been in most jeopardy of losing.

"So far this season, the teams that have played Kentucky the closest have been the tortoises, not the hares," Mark Story of the Lexington Herald-Leader wrote. "Of the seven games in which opponents have played Kentucky within 10 points, three of those ended regulation with both teams in the 50s. Only once all year has a foe played UK close in a game that ended with both teams in the 70s—Mississippi and UK were tied at 77 after regulation before the Cats won 89-86 in OT."

Arkansas is 5-3 when scoring less than 70 points, yet it is 5-0 when playing in the 70s and 13-2 when scoring 80 or more. Trying to slow it down could be the answer, but it's not a cure-all for Kentucky.

Box out and clean up

As swift as Arkansas plays, sometimes it forgets to rebound, particularly on defense. In Wednesday night's 81-75 home win over Texas A&M, the Razorbacks led by 23 points at halftime but allowed A&M to notch 15 offensive boards in the second half to make a game of it.

While it takes care of the boards when on offense, ranking 58th in Division I with rebounds on 38.3 percent of its own misses, its total rebounding percentage of 50.6 percent is just 164th.

This isn't an area where Kentucky normally struggles, as it ranks 13th in total rebounding (55.6 percent) and third in offensive rebounding efficiency (41.3 percent).

Focus on the foe

While the momentum that Arkansas brings into Saturday's game makes it unlike many of Kentucky's opponents of late, the biggest obstacle the Wildcats continue to have to deal with each game is one that never gets onto the court.

Kentucky coach John Calipari has begun to refer to the growing media circus surrounding the Wildcats' pursuit of perfection as "poison" that his players are drinking every time they voluntarily expose themselves to it, according to Kyle Tucker of The (Louisville) Courier-Journal.

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ESPN plans to show coach John Calipari's press conferences live as long as UK is still spotless. The network's flagship show, "SportsCenter," carves out a chunk of prime TV time for the Cats every day now. Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, USA Today, CBS and the Today Show have all recently visited Lexington, looking to capture the pursuit of perfection or reveal a blemish not yet discovered.

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Calipari has said he wouldn't have been able to handle this kind of scrutiny when he was 18 or 19 years old, and he is amazed at how his players have handled the pressure without it affecting them in games. He isn't doing his team any favors, though, by being so forthcoming with quotes about the situation or with his extended courtside interviews at halftime and after the final buzzer.

But in a way, by taking on much of that responsibility Calipari has tried to shield the players from some of the attention, and continuing to do that will help Kentucky's mission move forward.

All statistics provided by Sports-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted. 

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.