After every Kentucky basketball game the Cats Illustrated Stock Report is updated to reflect what happened, both the good and the bad.
There were several positives in Kentucky's win against Arkansas.
| 📈 | Keion Brooks. His stat line is well known by now: 17 minutes, 10 points, 3/4 shooting, 7 rebounds. That's 14 rebounds his last two games. Brooks has been active in getting to loose balls, following shots, and playing like one of the quicker off-the-floor players on the court. His energy is a significant notch in his favor as he competes with several different players for more time. |
|---|---|
📈 | Kenny Payne. Most who follow Kentucky basketball already realized how important Payne is to each UK team but it was impossible to miss on Saturday. He's the one who piloted Kentucky through a very difficult situation for much of the second half with Arkansas surging and threatening to blow past UK on the scoreboard. |
📉 | Quickley's shot. Nobody should seriously worry about Quickley's shooting considering the torrid pace he was on until the Arkansas game. But it must be pointed out that he was 3/14 from the field and that was a definite step back from where he was at. Kentucky fans should just hope that it was the exception. The pace he was on before Saturday's game was unsustainable but 3/14 isn't who he is either. |
Ashton Hagans. Make no mistake about it. Saturday was a bounce back for Hagans, who had been challenged to play better by Calipari after some carelessness and poor decision making particularly in the loss to South Carolina. Hagans responded, only turning the ball over one time and playing like one of the best players on the court for either team. | |
📈 | Johnny Juzang's defense. Juzang saw increased minutes in both the first and second halves of UK's game at Arkansas. While his two first half jump shots, one from three, are the plays that seemed to garner the most attention on social media, it's his improved defense that is the main reason Calipari feels more comfortable putting him on the court. He still has a long way to go as an overall player but Juzang is trending forward for the first time this season. |
📈 | Team defense. This may have been one of the better games of the season for the Wildcats in terms of playing defense. One of the keys to Arkansas' success this year has been three-pointers in transition and on the secondary break. UK defended those shots well. The Hogs were 6/8 from outside in the first half but finished 8/26 so Kentucky really got out on shooters after intermission. Kentucky also made life miserable for Arkansas on shots inside the arc. |
📈 | Rebounding. It's been a long time since Kentucky pulverized a team on the glass but that's exactly what happened in Fayetteville. In our "keys to the game" we mentioned that rebounding was not exactly a strength for Arkansas and that showed up with UK winning the boards with a 47-29 margin, with most of the difference in the first half. |
