LEXINGTON, Ky. -- With the help of some former Wildcats, John Calipari's much-anticipated return to Lexington was a triumphant one.
DJ Wagner, Adou Thiero, and Zvonimir Ivisic -- who all defected to Arkansas along with their coach last spring -- combined for 52 points and made seven of the Razorbacks' SEC-high 13 3-pointers in an 89-79 upset of No. 12 Kentucky on Saturday night at Rupp Arena.
Calipari said he was proud of how his players who used to wear the blue and white handled the hype and pressure leading up to the game.
"I called them in together and I said are you guys OK going back here, you going to be OK?" Calipari said. "They all said we're fine, coach. We're worried about you. That's the kind of team I have and the kind of players they are... They were good, and they all played well today."
Arkansas (13-8, 2-6 SEC) made 13 of 25 shots from beyond the arc. Calipari's squad entered the matchup averaging 5.7 made treys in SEC play and ranked No. 248 nationally in 3-point percentage at 32.5. They also topped their league-play scoring average by 22 points.
"It's hard to win in here," said Calipari, who worked the sideline at Rupp Arena for UK from 2009-24. "... We played well. We did. We made a lot of shots. We lost a lot of games where we were 0-for, so it's nice to know we can win games this way."
"Congrats to Arkansas," Kentucky head coach Mark Pope said. "I thought they played great basketball tonight. Played really tough, really hard."
Kentucky (15-6, 4-4 SEC) lost for the third time in the last four games. The Cats played its second straight game without starting point guard Lamont Butler, a grad senior widely considered their most valuable player, due to a shoulder injury.
His absence showed on both ends of the floor as Wagner sliced and diced the UK defense for 17 points and eight assists and the Cats finished upside down again offensively with 11 assists and 14 turnovers.
"Complicated stretch for us," said Pope, whose team is also missing backup point guard Kerr Kriisa, who has missed 12 games with a broken bone in a foot that was surgically repaired. "... Just trying to figure out this guard rotation right now."
“Its tough," UK grad senior guard Jaxson Robinson said. "We’re asking a lot out of our freshmen right now and guys are playing out of position. We are just doing what we can, but we aren’t using that as an excuse. We just have to figure out a way to move past it and put up some wins.”
The Cats shot 48% from the field, made 10 3-pointers of their own, and won the battle on the glass 33-30 but were minus-9 from the arc and minus-13 in fast-break points.
Amari Williams led UK with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Jaxson Robinson added 20 points for the Cats.
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In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK loss...
KEY MOMENT:
Although Arkansas had splashed a shocking nine 3-pointers in the first half, Kentucky trailed only 46-45 at the break. But the Cats had an uncharacteristic poor start to the second half -- a place where they have often opened a gap against good opponents this season -- and the Razorbacks used a 12-2 run to open a comfortable lead that they would never relinquish. All 12 points were scored by the former Cats -- the first four by Thiero, the next five by Wagner, and the final three by Ivisic.
GAME BALL:
Adou Thiero, Arkansas -- The former UK forward was an athletic mismatch at the 4 spot. He finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, and three steals, leading all players in the plus/minus column at +15.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st - Former Kentucky coach, John Calipari, to win his first game against UK as an opposing coach since John Mauer in 1939 as the head coach of Tennessee.
2nd - Loss for the Wildcats when either making 10-plus 3-pointers or winning the rebounding battle.
3-6 - Kentucky record when trailing at halftime this season.
+4/-14 - The scoring margins for Kentucky with grad senior center Amari Williams on the court and off the court.
36-15 - Kentucky's lead in the all-time series with Arkansas. The Razorbacks won for just the sixth time in 22 tries at Rupp Arena.
21,266 - Attendance at Rupp Arena.
QUOTABLE:
“I felt a lot of emotions, that’s the thing, just walking back in the gym for the first time, being on the other side, on a different team, shooting around as a different team, so it kind of felt like a little weird. Once that was over, it was a little bit easier to lock in and stuff like that and just play today. The atmosphere was just great. I feel like everybody loves to play in atmospheres like that, so it was fun for me, going out there and just seeing how crazy it was, how crazy everybody was going, it was fun.” -- Arkansas point guard DJ Wagner
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action Tuesday at No. 23 Ole Miss. The Rebels fell to No. 1 Auburn earlier Saturday, 92-82, in Oxford. Tipoff for the Cats and Rebels is slated for 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
