How Fans, Media Reacted to Hogs’ Close Loss Against Wildcats
The lights of Rupp Arena ended up being too bright for Arkansas as they fell in a highly offensive affair 111-102 to Kentucky.
It was an exciting game which saw 20 lead changes and 13 ties. Foul trouble and costly turnovers toward the end spoiled an Arkansas upset of the Wildcats on Saturday.
Arkansas went into the season with hopes of a SEC title and deep NCAA Tournament run. After an 8-10 finish with a young squad led by three McDonald’s All-Americans, this experienced offensive minded squad was expected to win a lot.
Many media outlets had the Razorbacks pegged as preseason SEC favorites. Even John Fanta from Field of 68 picked the Razorbacks to win the whole thing.
With the No. 7 transfer class, this team definitely should be better than bottom half of the conference. The basketball gods thought otherwise.
A team that shot 1-of-17 from the field at one point against Vanderbilt seemingly couldn’t miss Saturday. When Arkansas led midway through the second half, it was shooting a crisp 60% from the field and banked 41% from three.
One of the weirder trends is how the Razorbacks have competed against perceived college basketball bluebloods like Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina. Close games against those type of opponents only to be followed up with losses to the likes of Vanderbilt, UNC Greensboro has dampened Arkansas’ expectations.