Tate and Davis Seal Win at Kentucky

Mike Cawood February 9, 2021

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Down one with 14 seconds left, Arkansas freshman Davonte Davis went coast-to-coast and attempted a layup. The shot missed but graduate senior Jalen Tate got the offensive rebound and was fouled with 4.3 seconds left. Tate sank both free throws and Davis stole the ball on the ensuing possession with two seconds left to seal an 81-80 Razorback win over Kentucky Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.

Arkansas (15-5, 7-4 SEC) has won five straight league games for the first time since Feb. 2017. The Hogs also snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Wildcats (5-13, 4-7 SEC).

Arkansas was up 12 (72-60) after a pair of free throws by Jaylin Williams with 6:11 to play. The Wildcats went on a 20-7 run – thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Olivier Sarr and a triple by Brandon Boston with 28 seconds left – to fight back and take the lead, 80-79, on a 3-pointer by Davion Mintz with 14 seconds left to set up the exciting finish.

Tate, who was 5-of-5 at the free throw line, led Arkansas with 15 points while Moses Moody had 14 points and seven rebounds. Jaylin Williams, who was 5-of-6 at the charity stripe, also had seven boards.

Arkansas stays on the road to face #10 Missouri on Saturday (Feb. 13). Tipoff is set for 3:00 pm (CT) on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.

FIRST HALF: Arkansas 36 – Kentucky 35

Kentucky made 4 of its first 5 3-ponters to lead 21-15 at the second media timeout (11:26).
JD Notae gave Arkansas its first lead with 3-pointer at 9:50. Notae 3-pointer at 6:59 tied the game at 25-25.
A Davonte Davis 3-pointer at 2:45 gave Arkansas a 34-33 lead. Davis hit a layup with 48 seconds left to give Arkansas a 36-35 lead, which was the halftime score.
Kentucky was 11-of-17 at the free throw line compared to Arkansas being just 3-of-6.
JD Notae led Arkansas with eight points and Connor Vanover added seven.

SECOND HALF: Arkansas 45 – Kentucky 45

Moses Moody opened the second half with a 3-pointer. However, Kentucky answered with a 7-2 run to go up one, 42-41.
Arkansas used an 11-0 run, capped by a Jalen Tate 3-point plat, to lead 52-42.
Early in the second half, Arkansas made 5-of-7 shots and Kentucky was just 2-of-10 as the Razorbacks led 58-49 at the second media timeout (11:42).
Up five, Arkansas went on a 7-0 run to lead by 12, 72-60, before Kentucky got to within six. Justin Smith answered with a layup at 9:05 and the teams traded 3’s the next three trips to make the score 65-60 with 7:53 left.
UK went on an 8-0 run to get to with four before Jaylin Williams had an offensive put-back. Kentucky answered with a basket, but Jaen Tate came right back with a layup to put the Hogs back up six (76-70).
Olivier Sarr sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:14 to get UK to within three (76-73). After two Razorback free throws, Brandon Boston hit a 3-pointer with 28 ticks left to make it a one-point game in Arkansas’ favor (78-77).
Moses Moody and Jalen Tate each scored 11 second-half points and Moody had five of his seven rebounds in the period.
Arkansas was 15-of-17 from the free throw line in the second half while Kentucky was just 5-of-8.
Kentucky was 10-of-17 from 3-point range in the second half (just 5-of-12 from inside the arc in the period).

GAME NOTES

Arkansas snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Wildcats. The last win for the Hogs versus UK was 71-67 on overtime on Feb. 27, 2014, in Lexington.
Arkansas trails 12-33 in the all-time series versus Kentucky and is just 4-15 in Lexington.
Arkansas was won five straight SEC games for the first time since the 2016-17 season. From Feb. 11-25, Arkansas won at LSU, at South Carolina, vs Ole Miss, vs Texas A&M and at Auburn. Arkansas’ most recent, longest winning streak was seven straight SEC games in 2014015.
Arkansas’ starting lineup was Jalen Tate (G) – Davonte Davis (G) – Moses Moody (G) – Justin Smith (F) – Connor Vanover (F) for the second consecutive game.
Kentucky won the opening tip. Arkansas is 7-3 when its opponent wins the tip.
Brandon Boston Jr., scored the game’s first points, a 3-pointer at 19:46. Arkansas is 5-2 this season when the opponent scores first. Jalen Tate scored Arkansas’ first points, a layup at 18:02.
Desi Sills was the first sub for Arkansas.
Arkansas is 13-1 this season when leading at the half, 15-0 when leading with five minutes left and 15-0 when leading with two minutes left.
This was just the second, single-digit win for the Razorbacks this season. The other was a 75-73 home win over Auburn (Jan. 20).
Arkansas is 4-0 when scoring between 80-89 points and 9-0 when scoring at least 80.
Justin Smith finished with nine points, one point shy of 1,000 for his career. He added three assists and two steals.
Connor Vanover had 12 points, making 2-of-4 from 3-point range, with two blocked shots. He was 2-of-2 at the free throw line. He is 19-of-19 from the stripe this season.
Moses Moody tied a season high by making four 3-pointers. He led the team in rebounds for the sixth time this season.
Jaylin Williams scored nine points, making a season-high 5-of-6 free throws. He entered the game just 8-of-10 from the line this season.
Jalen Tate’s five made free throws were a season high.
Arkansas only committed six turnovers. It was the third time Arkansas committed single-digit turnovers and ties for the second-lowest by Arkansas in the Musselman era. It was the fewest by the Hogs since committing six in a loss at Georgia last season (2/29/20).
Arkansas was out-rebounded (42-33) for just the sixth time this season and the Hogs are 2-4 in such games. The minus 9 rebound margin ties for the second-worst this season. Arkansas grabbed single-digit rebounds (5) for just the third time this season.
Arkansas scored 45 second-half points. It marks the 20th time in 20 games this season Arkansas has scored at least 40 points in a half.

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