Last month, Arkansas shocked the SEC by tossing in a last-second dunk to earn the win over Kentucky. The Razorbacks surprised the Wildcats by keeping up with them the entire matchup and eventually getting the win. Now at .500 in the conference, Arkansas is poised to make a late run into the SEC tournament and win on the road against the No. 17 Wildcats could seal the effort.
Arkansas has not won on the road at Kentucky since 1993, the year they won the national championship. The team has lost nine-straight games in Rupp Arena, a streak they would love to break on Thursday night. At home is a different story. Arkansas has posted back-to-back victories at home to Kentucky, the most recently coming in overtime when Michael Qualls got the put-back dunk for the win. The moved aired nationwide. Qualls put up 18 points in that game, the third-most in hist college career.
Since then, the Razorbacks have won five of their last six games, keeping their March Madness hopes alive. Arkansas is paying for a slow start to conference play where they went 2-6 in their first eight games. Qualls struggled during that time shooting just 19.6 percent in his first six SEC games. He scored just one point against Tennessee before getting suspended. However, a strong return has the Razorbacks operating on all cylinders. He has scored double figures in five straight games and will be a big factor against the Wildcats.
Kentucky is fresh off another close game where they took the LSU Tigers to overtime before getting a last-second jumped for the 77-76 win. The Wildcats are aware of just how much Arkansas needs a win against them. If this were a road game, Kentucky has reason to worry, but they are 15-1 at Rupp Arena this season and will likely ride the home crowd throughout the entire game.
