< PreviousMike Pratt previews the Arkansas game 8 @KentuckyMBB 10 @KentuckyMBB 2020 UK Sports Partnership Football Program Ad (8.5x11) 265-20801.indd 12020 UK Sports Partnership Football Program Ad (8.5x11) 265-20801.indd 111/13/20 11:01 AM11/13/20 11:01 AMWEEKNIGHTS 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY 9:00 a.m.110920 BBN Tonight RUPP Ad.indd 1110920 BBN Tonight RUPP Ad.indd 111/9/20 4:39 PM11/9/20 4:39 PMAround the SEC Around the Country 2020-21 SEC Standings Team SEC Overall Home Road Alabama 10-1 15-5 9-1 4-2 Missouri 6-3 13-3 8-1 4-2 Tennessee 6-4 13-4 10-2 3-2 Arkansas 6-4 14-5 12-1 2-4 Florida 6-4 10-5 5-2 3-3 LSU 6-4 11-6 8-2 2-4 Georgia 5-6 12-6 10-3 2-3 Ole Miss 5-6 10-8 7-3 3-5 Mississippi State 5-6 11-9 8-3 3-3 Kentucky 4-6 5-12 3-4 2-6 South Carolina 3-5 5-7 3-2 1-4 Auburn 4-7 10-10 6-4 2-5 Texas A&M 2-6 8-7 6-3 2-3 Vanderbilt 1-7 5-9 5-4 0-5 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Cameron Thomas, LSU ..................................................22.3 Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY ...............................................21.0 D.J. Stewart Jr., MISS ST .................................................17.7 AJ Lawson, USC ............................................................17.3 Iverson Molinar, MISS ST ...............................................16.8 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Tolu Smith, MISS ST.........................................................8.4 Dylan Disu, VANDY ........................................................8.2 Jeremiah Tilmon, MIZZOU ..............................................7.9 Darius Days, LSU ............................................................7.9 Emanuel Miller, TAMU ....................................................7.7 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Sahvir Wheeler, UGA ......................................................7.4 Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY .................................................5.4 Jalen Tate, ARK ................................................................4.5 Ja'Vonte Smart, LSU .........................................................3.8 Tre Mann, UF ..................................................................3.8 Steals Player-Team ................................................................... SPG Justin Kier, UGA ..............................................................2.1 Tyree Appleby, UF ...........................................................1.8 Herbert Jones, ARK ..........................................................1.8 Dru Smith, MIZZOU .......................................................1.8 Luis Rodriguez, MISS .......................................................1.7 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Isaiah Jackson, UK ..........................................................2.8 Colin Castleton, UF .........................................................2.6 Connor Vanover, ARK ......................................................2.0 Abdul Ado, MISS ST ........................................................1.9 Yves Pons, UT .................................................................1.6 2020-21 Associated Press Rankings As of Feb. 7, 2021 (week 12) Team Record Points 1 Gonzaga (55) 18-0 1,567 2 Baylor (8) 17-0 1,520 3 Michigan 13-1 1,438 4 Ohio State 15-4 1,365 5 Villanova 12-2 1,281 6 Illinois 13-5 1,239 7 Texas Tech 14-5 1,102 8 Houston 16-2 1,060 9 Virginia 13-3 969 10 Missouri 13-3 966 11 Alabama 15-5 911 12 Oklahoma 12-5 863 13 Texas 11-5 841 14 West Virginia 13-5 824 15 Iowa 13-6 757 16 Tennessee 13-4 690 17 Florida State 10-3 514 18 Virginia Tech 14-4 486 19 Creighton 14-5 465 20 Southern California 15-3 411 21 Wisconsin 14-6 358 22 Loyola Chicago 17-3 200 23 Oklahoma State 12-5 181 24 Purdue 13-7 85 25 Rutgers 11-6 65 14 @KentuckyMBBFrom Press Row 16 @KentuckyMBB Up Next: Fifth Straight Top-40 Opponent With all of the struggles this Kentucky team has faced this season, playing one of the nation's most difficult schedules hasn't provided any relief, especially as of late. UK is in the midst of its toughest stretch yet. On Tuesday vs. Arkansas, Kentucky will take on its fifth straight opponent ranked in the top 40 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool rank- ings at the time of the game (LSU, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas). Arkansas enters the game 14-5, but of par- ticular concern for the Wildcats is how the Razorbacks have played of late. After losing four of five games early in league play, Arkan- sas has found its stride again and won four of five games, including three by 15 or more. The Razorbacks are getting the job done with balance. Arkansas averages an impressive 82.7 points per game with five players in dou- ble figures, but the Hogs also get after it defensively. Through games on Feb. 6, they ranked 20th in Ken Pomeroy's defensive efficiency ratings, and Arkansas has held two of its last three opponents to less than 60 points, including just 45 vs. Mississippi State. Arkansas is led by Moses Moody, who av- erages 16.4 points per game. JD Notae pitch- es in with 13.7 points, and Justin Smith is tal- lying 11.3 points and a team-best 6.7 boards per contest. Defense! Although Kentucky's record may not re- flect it, UK's defense this season has been very good. The Wildcats are yielding 69.5 points per game, 40.8% shooting by the op- position overall and 30.8% from behind the arc, while averaging 6.1 blocks and 6.5 steals per game. Through games on Feb. 6, Kentucky ranked 19th nationally in defensive efficien- cy, according to KenPom.com. KenPom.com also rates UK's effective field-goal percent- age defense (46.1%) and block percentage (15.4%) among the top 50 in the nation. Kentucky has yielded more than 1.0 points per possession in just six games. Five times this season, Kentucky has lost despite holding teams to 66 points or fewer. Under John Calipari, that had only occurred 13 times in 407 games prior to this season -- essentially occurring once every 31 games under his direction. UK is 206-24 under Calipari when hold- ing the opposition to 40% or less from the field but only 4-5 this season. The Wildcats have held six of their last eight opponents to less than 40% from the floor. The Rule of 76? With the way the defense has played this season, Ken- tucky doesn't have to be great offensively to win. It just can't be poor. UK is 5-0 this season when scoring at least 76 points but 0-12 when scoring 75 or fewer. In a bit of a statistical oddi- ty, the Wildcats had not scored between 66 and 75 points until scoring 70 and 71 in back-to- back games at No. 18/16 Mis- souri and against No. 11/10 Ten- nessee last week, both losses. Mixing and Matching Through 17 games this sea- son, Kentucky has used seven different starting lineups. John Calipari has continually shak- en up the lineup to try and find the right combination of players who play well together and give the Wildcats the best chance at a good start, as well as finding the lineup that finishes games. The most lineups UK has ever started under Calipari has been 10 in both 2019-20 and 2015- 16. According to KenPom.com, UK's minutes continuity at 5.7% is the worst in the coun- try. Part of that can be attributed to Keion Brooks Jr. missing the first nine games of the season, as well as Terrence Clarke's ab- sence over the last 10 games. Both players have averaged more than 24.0 minutes per game when available. During Calipari's tenure, eight of his teams have ranged from 21.8% continuity to the highest at 49.6% during the 2014-15 sea- son. This season's rate is currently the lowest in Calipari's 12 seasons, with the 2012-13 team owning the previous low mark at 5.9%. Brooks Making Major Impact Since Return As the team's lone returning contributor, Keion Brooks Jr. was going be counted on as a leader by the coaching staff and his team- mates entering the season. However, an in- jury kept him out of practice and out of the team's lineup over the first nine games of the season and the Wildcats subsequently strug- gled without him. Since returning to the lineup, Brooks has been a welcomed addition. He leads the team in scoring at 11.8 points per game and has scored in double figures in six of the eight games, including a career-high 23 points and 11 rebounds vs. Tennessee. Brooks is shooting 48.6% from the floor and hauling in 6.0 rebounds per game as well. Brooks made his debut in UK's domi- nating victory over Florida where he scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting, grabbed six rebounds and dished out a game-high four assists in 25 efficient minutes. The Wildcats were plus-22 with Brooks on the floor in that victory. It was a sensational debut after nearly 10 months away from any game action. It took place on the same floor he had played his last game, his breakthrough 2019-20 perfor- mance in early March when he scored 12 points in an 18-point second-half comeback victory. Against Tennessee, Brooks was 8 for 16 from the floor en route to the first dou- ble-double of his career. Next >