FAYETTEVILLE, AR (LEX 18) — Battle-tested in Bud Walton Arena, the Kentucky Men’s Basketball team came out on top 85-77 despite a barrage of fouls and high emotions against a No. 15 Arkansas team.
Four Wildcats finished in double-figures with Otega Oweh leading the night with 24 points and 8 rebounds.
The Wildcats opened the game shooting lights out, making nine of their first 10 shots. Collin Chandler would pull a 3-point basket followed by a breakaway dunk to give the Cats a 14-5 lead over the Hogs.
Perfect start.
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 31, 2026
📺 - ESPNU pic.twitter.com/322XW7CoER
Oweh would dunk with authority for a 21-11. Kentucky would limit Razorbacks' second-chance attempts by boxing out when shots went up. UK would hit an 8-0 run, punctuated by a Denzel Aberdeen deep 3-pointer. UK as a team is still shooting 85% for the first 10 minutes of the half.
Out of a timeout, Arkansas would score and find themselves applying more defensive pressure with traps. In the latter half of the first, the game started to get away from the Wildcats, who committed a few turnovers.
TOUGH AND-1 FINISH, @collinchand13r 💪 pic.twitter.com/GS9qIkT05N
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) February 1, 2026
A dust-up between the Cats and Hogs, a Trent Noah 3-pointer, and a student section shush, and the Cats would find themselves up, 42-35.
Shooting 48.6% from the field, 21-19 rebounds, and Oweh leading with 10. Kentucky held Darius Acuff Jr. to five points in the first half.
This is the 5th true road game of the @CoachMarkPope era, and the first one this season, that @KentuckyMBB has had a lead of at least 10 points
— Corey Price (@coreyp08) January 31, 2026
The Razorbacks would start with more fire, hitting 5-of-5 from the field to cut into Kentucky’s lead. But an Adrija Jelavić basket would keep them at bay 51-46 after the first five minutes into the second half.
After three technical fouls on Kentucky, Arkansas makes it a one-point game, 51-50. Billy Richmond slammed it home for the first Arkansas lead, 52-51. Oweh would cut to the basket and get the layup to stop the bleeding.
After containing him in the first half, an Acuff 3-pointer followed by a lay in, and Arkansas found its largest lead of the day, 57-53.
Oweh used a breakaway dunk to tie the game at 59 with under 10 left in the game. The Cats found themselves stretching the lead again with back-to-back Malachi Moreno buckets, 72- 67.
With two minutes left, Kentucky took a 10-point lead and finished the game on top, improving to 15-7 overall and 6-3 in the SEC.
Next, Kentucky returns to Rupp Arena, facing the Oklahoma Sooners on Wednesday, February 4, at 9 p.m. That game will broadcast on ESPN2.
Catch all the game day action and learn more about Kentucky Athletics on BBN Tonight. The team provides the latest coverage and stats ahead of UK games.
