The bad news: Kentucky lost 75-73 at Arkansas on Saturday.
The good news: Everyone else lost, too.
Or practically everyone else who is any good at college basketball — or so we believed was any good — lost on Saturday.
AP Top 25 No. 1 Gonzaga lost 67-57 at No. 23 Saint Mary's. No. 2 Arizona lost 79-63 at Colorado. No. 3 Auburn lost 67-62 at No. 17 Tennessee. No. 4 Purdue lost 68-65 at Michigan State. No. 5 Kansas lost 80-70 at No. 10 Baylor. And, yes, No. 6 Kentucky lost at No. 18 Arkansas. Six up, six down.
The lesson: There is no dominant college basketball team in 2021-2022.
That's both good and bad news for John Calipari's Wildcats. The good news is that as the Cats work out the kinks, with injuries forcing them from one lineup to another, no team is clearly head and shoulders above the pack as the NCAA Tournament nears. The bad news is, well, Kentucky is one of maybe a dozen teams with a legitimate shot at cutting down the nets in New Orleans. In this case, more is not always merrier.
Take Saturday, for example. Full credit to Arkansas. After an 0-3 SEC start, the Razorbacks have climbed into a three-way tie with UK and Tennessee at 12-4 in league play. That trio is a game behind a wobbling Auburn. Arkansas has won 13 of its last 14 games. The lone loss in that stretch was by a single point, 68-67, at Alabama.
Eric Musselman can coach. The Razorbacks' defense bottled up UK sharpshooter Kellan Grady. On offense, Musselman used his NBA head coaching experience to free up JD Notae for 30 points, then continually placed Jaylin Williams in isolation sets against UK's Oscar Tshiebwe. Result: Williams scored 10 of the Hogs' final 12 points.
For Kentucky, the final result was not as disconcerting as the way the Cats both started and finished the game.
For the fourth consecutive outing, Calipari's club fell behind by double digits in the first half. In Knoxville, UK trailed Tennessee 37-22 in the first half and lost 76-63. At home against Alabama, the Cats rallied from a 41-28 deficit for a 90-81 win. In a 71-66 home win over LSU, Kentucky trailed 27-16 in the first half.
Saturday brought more of the same. Tshiebwe scored the afternoon's first two points. Arkansas scored the next 15. Notae was responsible for eight of those. "We started the game unaggressive," Calipari said, adding his team's body language was one of "put the sad look on your face."
To Kentucky's credit, the Cats fought back, slicing Arkansas' advantage to six points (34-28) at halftime before taking a 41-40 lead early in the second half. From there, both teams gave as good as they got, with Tshiebwe (30 points) and Notae (30 points) trading buckets.
The final two minutes, however, the Cats faltered. After a Grady three-pointer — his only made field goal — put UK up 70-69 with 2:20 left, the Cats did not score another point until TyTy Washington's inconsequential banked-in three-pointer at the final horn.
Keion Brooks was called for a push off on an inbounds play with 1:03 left. Next possession, after a timeout, Brooks' missed an open three. Next possession, down 74-70, all UK could muster was a highly contested three-point attempt by Grady from the right corner with five seconds left. It was partially blocked. Ball game.
Disclaimers: Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington. UK's two starting guards returned to action after a two-game absence. Wheeler is nursing a wrist injury. Washington is battling an ankle problem. Wheeler shook off the rust to score 14 points. Washington is still not himself. The freshman was just 3-of-12 from the floor.
One thing we know: Late-game execution matters in March, especially when so little difference exists among so many teams. This Kentucky team can still win it all. We haven't changed our stance on that. But so could a whole host of others. Saturday showed the list is growing.
