On Wednesday, March 4, No. 9 seeded Kentucky (22-9, 8-8 SEC) ended the No. 16 seeded Arkansas Razorbacks’ season (12-20, 1-15 SEC), winning 94-64 in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
Fresh off of a close loss to No. 3 South Carolina, the Wildcats headed into this matchup confident under the leadership of Kenny Brooks and as heavy favorites.
Arkansas, on the other hand, needed a miracle to keep its season alive, officially placing last in conference rankings and having to deal with one of the best teams in the league.
To start things out, Asia Boone would get two shots to go from deep, surpassing Kentucky legend Rhyne Howard for the most 3-point field goals in a single season. Shortly followed by an and one by Jordan Obi, the Wildcats jumped out to a 16-4 lead in just five minutes of play.
Amelia Hassett would then spark a couple of threes, spilling the dominant lead into the next quarter. Up 17 with the second installment of 10 minutes halfway over, Boone and Hassett had combined for five threes.
In the final moments before halftime, Arkansas would show some fight, cutting the lead down to nine before the break.
Unlike another basketball team on campus, the Wildcats knew that no lead was safe, and would proceed to go on a 20-5 run in the first six minutes of the third quarter.
Ironically, as the lead increased little by little, Hassett would continue to drain shots from deep and would actually surpass Boone’s record from earlier, becoming the new program record holder for threes just an hour later.
Handling business as expected, Kentucky won by 30 points. Hassett finished with 18 points, all from three-point land, and Clara Strack did her usual, finishing with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
As a team, the Wildcats made nearly half of their shots and held the Razorbacks to just 36% from the field, forcing 12 turnovers.
Up next, the Wildcats will face No. 8 Georgia (22-8, 8-8 SEC) on Thursday, March 5 in the second round of the conference tournament. The Bulldogs defeated Kentucky earlier in the season by five at Historic Memorial Coliseum, but you know what they say, it’s hard to beat a team twice.
Tip off is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. ET and will be streamed live from the SEC Network.
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