SEC Men’s Basketball: Warning on Wildcats

1-5 SEC road record ‘extremely deceptive’

Kentucky Coach John Calipari, leaving the court after a loss to Vanderbilt earlier this month in Nashville, Tenn., admits his team is young and doesn’t have the experience to compete on the road like his previous teams.
Kentucky Coach John Calipari, leaving the court after a loss to Vanderbilt earlier this month in Nashville, Tenn., admits his team is young and doesn’t have the experience to compete on the road like his previous teams.

— Kentucky never has lost as many as six SEC road games since the conference expanded to 12 teams 20 years ago.

Arkansas hopes to change that tonight, when the No. 22 Wildcats visit Walton Arena. Tipoff is 7 p.m. on the SEC Network.

Kentucky (19-7, 7-5) is 1-5 in SEC road games, winning at South Carolina. The five conference road losses match the Wildcats’ most (five in 2007) since the conference went to divisional play and a 16-game schedule.

“I don’t think it’s like they’ve gone on the road and played poorly,” Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said. “I don’t see that at all.”

Kentucky’s SEC road losses at Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, Florida and Vanderbilt are by a combined 17 points. Alabama, Ole Miss and Florida beat the Wildcats by two points each.

“They’re a possession here or there from being 1-5 to 5-1,” Ole Miss Coach Andy Kennedy said. “It’s a very, very fine line that we all walk.

“Kentucky is very formidable, and with the experience that those freshmen continue to garner, I’m sure they’re becoming more comfortable on the road.”

Kentucky starts three freshmen in forward Terrence Jones and guards Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb. Jones is the SEC’s third-leading scorer (17.9 points) and top rebounder (9.1). Knight is the SEC’s fourth-leading scorer(17.4 points) and Lamb is 16th (13.8).

“I think Kentucky’s freshmen are as good as advertised - better actually,” Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings said. “I think their veterans [juniors Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins and senior Josh Harrellson] are underrated and underappreciated.”

Stallings said he believes Kentucky’s SEC road record is “extremely deceptive” considering the narrow margins of defeat.

“They’re a very good team, and I don’t care whether you’re playing them at home or on the road,” Stallings said.

Kentucky was 6-2 in SEC road games last season - losing at South Carolina and Tennessee - with a team that also relied heavily on freshmen before they moved on to the NBA.

“We are what our record says we are,” Kentucky Coach John Calipari said of his team’s road struggles this season. “We’re a very young inexperienced team.

“We’re not playing a whole lot of people, and we don’t have a whole lot of room for error. I still like my team, and I think we’re a good team, but you get on the road and ...”

Opposing teams always are fired up to play Kentucky and the fans are ready, too.Arkansas is averaging 8,118 in announced attendance for 16 home games this season, but more than 16,000 tickets have been sold for tonight’s game.

“Every game we play is that way,” Calipari said. “They’re all going to play well against us, and we’ve got to figure out ways to finish off some of these games.”

Calipari has faced Arkansas six times as the coach at Massachusetts, Memphis and Kentucky with a 4-2 edge, including the Wildcats’ 101-70 victory over the Razorbacks in Rupp Arena last season. He twice coached Memphis in Walton Arena, when the Razorbacks beat the Tigers in the 2000-2001 season and lost to them in the 2002-2003 season.

“It’s going to be wild,” Calipari said of tonight’s game. “It’s a great arena, great environment, great college campus, and it’s going to be a hard game for us.”

Arkansas (16-10, 5-7) has lost 10 consecutive games against Kentucky since beating the Wildcats 82-78 at Walton Arena on Feb. 25, 2001.

“I don’t really know a lot about it as far as actual numbers,” Razorbacks sophomore forward Glenn Bryant said. “I just know it would be really good to get a win against them.”

Bryant said last season’s 31-point loss at Kentucky should help motivate Arkansas.

“They took it to us pretty good,” he said. “So there’s a pride factor that comes into it.”

Pelphrey, who played at Kentucky, is 0-3 against the Wildcats since coming to Arkansas.

“It’s not about me. I had my day,” Pelphrey said. “Right now it’s about these kids on both teams, playing and competing and doing as well as they can.”

Arkansas hasn’t played Memphis since the 2002-2003 season because Calipari discontinued the series. He said at the time Memphis wanted to play national programs, not regional ones, drawing the ire of Razorbacks fans.

“We had enough SEC teams on there, and I wanted to play a national schedule,” Calipari said. “I said if the SEC wants us in their league, they should ask us to join their league.

“Why do ya’ll want to play us? Then put us in your league.”

Now Calipari has joined Arkansas in the SEC.

Sports, Pages 19 on 02/23/2011

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