KSR

KSR Today: Kentucky makes statement in huge road win

5mo

Jan 31, 2026; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Kentucky Wildcats players return to the court after a timeout during the second half against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena. Kentucky won 85-77. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Another Victory Sunday has arrived in the Bluegrass. This one is much sweeter than the others. Remember the famous Silvio Dante clip from “The Sopranos”? Well, that is just this Kentucky team in a nutshell. As soon as you are ready to hit the eject button, this group gets up off the mat and lands a haymaker. John Calipari and his ascending Arkansas team were on the wrong side of Kentucky’s big punch on Saturday night. For the second year in a row in this season, the big road underdog won a game in this rivalry series that was controlled from the jump. Some could say that the Cats got revenge in Bud Walton Arena on a cold January night.

Kentucky is leaving Hog Land with a 15-7 (6-3) record with a 4-5 mark in Quad 1 games. The NCAA Tournament resume now includes three Quad 1A wins away from home as St. John’s and Tennessee continue to win games. There was a lot of worry about UK being on the bubble. That is almost completely off the table now. The Cats — barring a collapse — will be dancing this year. Mark Pope‘s second team at his alma mater is now closer to a No. 6 seed than a No. 8 seed after another big win.

As far as the SEC Tournament goes, Kentucky remains two games back of Texas A&M, but is one of five teams with three losses at the halfway point. The race for the conference title is wide-open. UK now holds an important tiebreaker over Arkansas.

This team has a bunch to play for in February. Before turning the page to a big week with two games at Rupp Arena and the debut of the new denim jerseys, KSR is taking a look back at the big win in Fayetteville. Road victories are the best victories.

KSR recaps another Kentucky win in Bud Walton Arena

For the fifth time in six meetings, Kentucky is leaving Northwest Arkansas with a victory. The Wildcats now lead this all-time series 37-15 and have not lost consecutive games to the Hogs in over a decade.

KSR has everything you need to know about the win. Smash those links.

We cannot forget that this happened

We will be recapping the game all day at KSR. There is no downplaying the significance of this win. Let’s all just be happy that these second half shenanigans didn’t totally flip the game. I still can’t believe it happened. A true ref show masterclass. Kentucky fans weren’t the only ones dumbfounded.

Doug Shows needs to be thrown out of the game.
— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) February 1, 2026

If you are going to be calling technical fouls on plays like this you should not be assigned rivalry games. pic.twitter.com/mggMvnFUbR
— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) February 1, 2026

That's a crazy tech by Doug Shows.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 1, 2026

LOL I better not see Doug Shows working the Final Four this year. https://t.co/JqVJWtV0dj
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) February 1, 2026

Your weekly SEC race update

Kentucky recorded the only big upset in SEC play on Saturday. We get a rare Sunday game with Florida hosting Alabama in the first weekend without football. As the standings show, this thing is wide-open.

Place	Team	Record
1	Texas A&M	7-1
2	Florida	6-2
T-3	Kentucky	6-3
T-3	Arkansas	6-3
T-3	Vanderbilt	6-3
6	Tennessee	5-3
7	Alabama	4-3
T-8	Missouri	5-4
T-8	Auburn	5-4
T-10	Texas	4-5
T-10	Georgia	4-5
12	Ole Miss	3-5
13	Mississippi State	3-6
T-14	LSU	2-7
T-14	South Carolina	2-7
16	Oklahoma	1-8

Kentucky would be the No. 3 seed at the SEC Tournament if the season ended today. But the season does not end today. There is a lot of basketball left to be played. KenPom currently projects Kentucky to finish league play with 11 wins. UK will likely need 12 wins to earn a double-bye at the SEC Tournament. There is some work to be done. Saturday was a big step in the right direction.

The Wildcats now own the tiebreaker with Arkansas and could have clear ownership of the tiebreaker with Tennessee if they can complete the sweep next weekend with important games against Texas A&M, Florida, and Vanderbilt all around the corner.

Kentucky WBB faces Arkansas

Last night’s game was not the only basketball being played at Bud Walton Arena this weekend. Kenny Brooks and his Kentucky women’s basketball team will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak against Arkansas on Sunday afternooon.

Kentucky (17-5, 4-4) could get Teonni Key back in the lineup today. The Wildcats will be looking for a sweep in this series after handing Arkansas a 20-point loss at Historic Memorial Coliseum earlier this season.

*Location*	*Tipoff*	TV	*Radio*	*Live Stats*
Bud Walton Arena (Fayetteville, AR)	2 p.m. ET	SEC Network (Chuckie Kempf and Charli Turner Thorne)	630 WLAP, 790 WKRD (Darren Headrick)	StatBroadcast

A fun Sunday slate in college hoops

No football really just means more basketball. The NBA will attempt to fill this afternoon’s window with Bucks-Celtics on ABC at 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 CT before the debut of NBC’s Sunday Night Basketball begins tonight a Lakers-Knicks and Thunder-Nuggets double-header. But college basketball will also get some time in the spotlight today.

This is a fun schedule.

No. 23 Alabama at No. 19 Florida	1:00 p.m.	ABC
No. 12 Purdue at Maryland	1:00 p.m.	CBS
TCU at Colorado	2:00 p.m.	TNT
No. 8 Iowa State at Kansas State	2:00 p.m.	FOX
Wichita State at Tulsa	2:00 p.m.	ESPNU
Minnesota at Penn State	2:00 p.m.	Peacock
Tulane at Memphis	3:00 p.m.	ESPN2
No. 9 Illinois at No. 5 Nebraska	4:00 p.m.	FS1
Iowa at Oregon	8:00 p.m.	FS1