FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas finally stopped the bleeding against Kentucky.
The Razorbacks beat the No. 22 Wildcats 77-76 in overtime on Wednesday night before an announced crowd of 14,073 at Walton Arena to break a 10-game losing streak to Kentucky going back to the 2000-2001 season.
It was critical timing for the Razorbacks (17-10, 6-7 SEC), considering they had been 1-4 in their previous five SEC games, including two home losses, adding to the pressure building on fourth-year Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey.
“Any time your team is up against it like this team was, to come out and play like they did, it says a lot about John as a coach,” Kentucky Coach John Calipari said. “They’re fighting for him. They’re playing for him.
“They did what they had to do down the stretch. We had a chance to break it open a little bit, and they just hung around.”
The last of 16 lead changes came when Arkansas senior guard Marcus Britt hit a layup on a fast break with 16.3 seconds left in overtime to put the Razorbacks ahead 77-76. Britt had knocked the ball away from Brandon Knight and it was grabbed by Razorbacks guard Jeff Peterson, who got the ball back to Britt for the game-winning basket.
“I tried to make a pass,” Knight said. “I thought my arm got hit, but I can’t complain about the call.”
The biggest shot of Britt’s Arkansas career?
“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Britt said, smiling.
After a Kentucky timeout, Knight missed two jump shots with seven and three seconds left, but the ball went out of bounds to Kentucky with 1.8 seconds left.
Knight then missed the basket on a three-point attempt at the buzzer, setting off a wild celebration by the Razorbacks at midcourt.
“I’m happy for our team, I’m happy for our coaching staff, and I’m happy for our fans,” Arkansas junior guard Rotnei Clarke said. “They supported us a tremendous amount, and that got us going.”
Knight, a freshman point guard, led Kentucky (19-8, 7-6) with 26 points and had 8 rebounds and 5 assists in 44 minutes. But he was 8 of 23 from the field, including 1 of 8 on three point-attempts.
Arkansas sophomore guard Julysses Nobles tied the game 70-70 on a layup with 32.7 seconds left in regulation, and Knight missed a three-point attempt with six seconds left, got the rebound and missed an 18-foot jumper with one second left before Delvon Johnson got the rebound for the Razorbacks.
Pelphrey said it was difficult to watch Knight get off so many shots at the end of regulation and overtime, especially the three-pointer in regulation.
“The good Lord was watching over us, because he’s not missing that very often,” Pelphrey said. “But that’s why it’s a game.”
Pelphrey said the Razorbacks are playing with great spirit.
“We competed the whole way through and one bounce of the ball ended up going our way,” he said. “And we’ll take it.”
It was the first time Pelphrey - who played at Kentucky and has his retired jersey hanging in the Rupp Arena rafters - beat his alma mater in four tries as Arkansas’ coach.
“I really try to make this not about me. I had my day,” Pelphrey said. “Everybody knows my affection for my alma mater. ... Make no mistake about it, I’m very, very happy we won.”
Knight said he “felt great” on the shots at the end of regulation and overtime.
“They just didn’t go down,” Knight said.
Arkansas sophomore forward Marshawn Powell had season-highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Nobles added 10 points.
Clarke hit 6 of 16 from the field, 3 of 9 from three-point range, and 11 of 12 free throws in 44 minutes.
“I’m pretty dead right now,” Clarke said. “I’ll have to get a ton of treatment to get my legs back, but I’ll be fine.”
Kentucky junior guards DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller scored 13 points each. Josh Harrellson had 12 points and 14 rebounds.
The Razorbacks matched the Wildcats with eight turnovers and held Kentucky - which came into the game shooting an SEC-best 40.5 percent from three-point range - to 3 of 19 from beyond the arc.
Calipari said he thought Arkansas deserved to win the game.
“They fought, they played with more aggressiveness,” Calipari said. “We almost stole it.” Freshman forward Terrence Jones hit a 10-foot jumper to give Kentucky a 76-75 lead with 1:20 left before Britt’s heroics.
Kentucky fell to 1-6 in SEC road games, with its only victory at South Carolina. The Wildcats’ six conference road losses are their most in the 20 seasons since the SEC expanded to 12 teams and went to split into divisions with a 16-game schedule.
Clarke’s four-point play put Arkansas ahead 64-61 with 3:42 left. Clarke hit a three-point basket as he was fouled by Liggins, then added the free throw.
Jones then missed two free throws, but Harrellson got the rebound off the second miss and put it in to make it 64-63.
Johnson dunked with an assist from Powell for a 66-63 Razorbacks lead with 3:08 left.
Knight hit two free throws to pull Kentucky within 66-65. Johnson then scored on a rebound off a Clarke miss to give Arkansas a 68-65 lead.
Sports, Pages 19 on 02/24/2011