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Published Jan 7, 2017
Strong 2nd Half Pushes No. 6 Kentucky Past Arkansas
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Derek Terry  •  CatsIllustrated
Beat Writer
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@DerekSTerry

LEXINGTON, Ky. — De'Aaron Fox scored a career-high 27 points and Derek Willis dropped in 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting to lead Kentucky to a 97-71 win over Arkansas on Saturday night.

The Wildcats led for all but 3:21 of the game's 40 minutes, but they held just a three point lead despite shooting 50 percent from the field. The second half was all Kentucky, though, as the Wildcats outscored the Razorbacks 56-33 to finish off a convincing win.

Most pregame talk centered on Arkansas native Malik Monk, but the freshman shooting guard scored 12 points on 4 of 10 shooting. It was the career night from Fox that stole the show as he got into the lane at will and finished near the rim on multiple occasions.

Willis -- who had struggled to find his shot to this point in the season -- scored eight points in eight minutes of action in the first half. He drilled two three-pointers and a mid-range jumper in the first 20 minutes and then added seven more points in the second half.

Isaiah Briscoe scored 15 points and Bam Adebayo finished with 11 points to round out the Wildcats who finished with double-figures.

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TOP PERFORMER

De'Aaron Fox. Fox continues to struggle shooting from behind the arc -- he's just 4 of 31 (13 percent) from deep this season -- but he was money from two-point range against the Razorbacks. Fox knocked down a couple of floaters in the lane and stuffed the stat sheet in other areas as well. He finished the game with 27 points, six assists and six rebounds.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT

The possession after Arkansas' Jaylen Barford stepped on Isaiah Briscoe after a charge call -- he was called for a technical along with Kentucky's Fox -- Adebayo threw down this slam off Briscoe's miss.

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STAT OF THE GAME

Runs. The first half consisted of big runs for both teams. After Kentucky jumped out to a 4-0 run, Arkansas rallied with seven straight. Later in the half, the Razorbacks went on a 9-0 run to take a 24-20 lead. Kentucky then reeled of 12 straight points of its own to retake the lead. The Wildcats held Arkansas without a field goal from the 8:04 mark to the 2:19 mark in the first half.

In the second half Kentucky went on an 8-0 run to push its lead from 12 to 20 and effectively put the Razorbacks away.

UP NEXT

Kentucky (13-2): The Wildcats hit the road to face Vanderbilt on Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The Commodores are 8-7 in Bryce Drew's first season as coach.

Arkansas (12-3): Arkansas will host Mississippi State on Tuesday night.

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