LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The Tyler Herro scoring explosion that Kentucky fans had been longing to see at Rupp Arena finally materialized on Tuesday night against Arkansas.

It could not have come at a better time.

Herro, a freshman wing who had experienced most of his better shooting games on the road this season, posted a career-high 29 points in leading the No. 4 Wildcats to a 70-66 win over upset-minded Arkansas.

The Razorbacks led by 15 points early in the second half, but Herro almost single-handedly willed UK back into the game. The Wisconsin native scored 17 of his points in the second half, finishing 9-of-10 from the field, 5-of-6 from the 3-point arc, and 6-of-6 at the free-throw line.

Kentucky head coach John Calipari played coy when asked about Herro's heroics, claiming that the youngster had allowed more points than he had scored.

"I didn't know he had 29," Calipari said. "Wow. Nine-for-10. Probably should have shot more balls, huh?"

Said Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson: "The Herro kid, he played exceptionally well."

The Razorbacks built their defensive gameplan around slowing down UK's red-hot PJ Washington. It nearly worked. The UK sophomore forward was held to only nine points on 2-for-7 shooting from the field and finished with his first single-digit scoring output since Jan. 12 against Vanderbilt.

It was sound strategy. After all, Washington had been carrying the Cats of late and Herro had not tickled the twine at Rupp Arena like this all season. Among his previous high-scoring games on the season, three of the four had come on the road -- 24 at Louisville, 20 at Auburn and 19 at Florida.

Kentucky (24-4, 13-2 SEC) also got 13 points from freshman wing Keldon Johnson and a big contribution from sophomore center Nick Richards, who had seven points, a game-high 15 rebounds, and three blocked shots in logging 25 minutes in place of an injured Reid Travis.

Arkansas (14-14, 5-10 SEC) suffered its sixth consecutive loss. The Razorbacks were led by Isaiah Joe with 19 points and Desi Sills with 15. Daniel Gafford added 14 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.

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In this Cats Illustrated "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory...

THE GOOD:

Kentucky has given up a nice-sized lead on a few occasions this season, so it was good to see that the Cats also have a little comeback ability in them. The tendency for a young team trailing by 15 in the second half is to rush a lot of 3-point shots, but UK did not do that. The Cats methodically chipped away at the Arkansas lead by sticking with their gameplan and trusting the hot hand.

THE BAD:

PJ Washington has greatly improved his free-throw shooting this season, but even UK coach John Calipari admitted he was a little concerned about seeing his star player go 5-for-10 against the Razorbacks.

THE UGLY:

The Cats opened the game by committing 10 turnovers in the first 10 minutes of action. It may have briefly caused a few flashbacks to the "40 Minutes of Hell" days under Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson. Once UK stopped the bleeding, the game changed. The Cats had only five turnovers the rest of the night.

GAME BALL:

Tyler Herro, Kentucky -- Without Herro's performance on Tuesday night, this could have been a costly defeat for the Cats, who have entered the discussion for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. A loss to the struggling Razorbacks could have greatly damaged those chances. This was an effort that could have a ripple effect beyond simply this victory.

BY THE NUMBERS:

10 - Three-pointers for the Razorbacks, including five by Isaiah Joe.

16 - Points off turnovers for Arkansas.

22 of 32 - Kentucky's free-throw shooting.

32-11 - The Cats' lead in the all-time series with the Razorbacks.

40-27 - Kentucky rebounding advantage.

50 - Percent shooting for UK from the field (21 of 42).

21,998 - Attendance at Rupp Arena.

QUOTABLE:

"Arkansas had one turnover at the half. Do you know what that means? It means they were playing against the Washington Generals in the first half." -- UK head coach John Calipari on his team's lack of defensive intensity to start the game.

UP NEXT:

Kentucky travels to Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday for a rematch with the Volunteers that could determine the SEC regular-season championship. The Cats won 86-69 on Feb. 16 at Rupp Arena.