Beyond the Box: Did the officials cost Arkansas in loss to No. 23 Kentucky?
The Arkansas Razorbacks (19-12, 8-10) just dropped their third straight game to end the regular season after an 88-79 loss to No. 23 Kentucky (21-10, 12-6).
The atmosphere was electric inside Bud Walton Arena and the action on the floor was intense from the opening minutes. That intensity resulted in a very physical game from both teams, which led to a couple of altercations that had implications in the result of the game.
Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe and Arkansas’ Makhel Mitchell got tangled up under the basket just three minutes into the game. The replay showed that Tshiebwe threw an elbow which appeared to connect with Mitchell’s head. Despite the video evidence, officials did not assess Tshiebwe a flagrant foul. Instead, they assessed common fouls to both players and one to Anthony Black for getting into a verbal altercation with a couple of other Wildcat players.
Tshiebwe would eventually get a flagrant for contact to Kamani Johnson later in the half, but played the majority of the game on his way 12 points and 13 rebounds.
The other crucial moment happened with 18 minutes left in the second half. Kentucky was on a decent run and Arkansas players were becoming visibly frustrated. Devo Davis was called for back-to-back fouls and appeared to stomp and yell out in frustration, garnering a technical foul from the official closest to the Wildcat bench.
As Davis continued toward the Arkansas bench he appeared to say something else in the direction of the court and was assessed his second technical foul which meant an automatic ejection.
Both of these situations deserve their fair share of criticism when it comes to the officiating, and there were countless other missed calls and non-calls that could’ve gone the Razorbacks’ way. You can argue that if Oscar Tshiebwe is ejected early in the first half, Arkansas wins. You can argue that if Devo Davis isn’t ejected, maybe that also makes a difference in the final score.
However entertaining those “what if?” scenarios won’t change anything and, quite frankly, they weren’t the reason that Arkansas lost. There were plenty of opportunities that the Hogs failed to take advantage of and it cost them a big win at home.
Let’s go beyond the box score to take a closer look at how Arkansas lost today’s game.
Poor free throw shooting
(Photo by Nelson Chenault – USA TODAY Sports)
Statistically, this is not the worst free throw shooting team that Arkansas basketball has ever had, but sometimes it feels that way watching them. The Razorbacks went 22-34 from the foul line today.
Saturday was just the fourth time Arkansas has missed double-digit free throws in a game this season, but it was also the 18th time they’ve missed seven or more free throws. That means in over half of the games they’ve played, the Razorbacks have missed seven or more free throws.
In seven of Arkansas’ 12 losses this season, they missed more free throws than the final deficit.
It sounds like a broken record because it’s been said at numerous points throughout this season, but the Razorbacks just can’t win shooting that poorly at the free throw line. Teams that shoot poorly from the foul line typically don’t last long in March Madness. Arkansas isn’t a likely candidate to be the exception to that rule.
If the Hogs want to make another magical March wrong, they’ve got to be better at the free throw line. It’s that simple.
Poor shooting around the rim
(Photo by Nelson Chenault – USA TODAY Sports)
Arkansas had plenty of opportunities and good looks around the rim today, but they just couldn’t convert. According to StatBroadcast, the Razorbacks were 2-20 on layups against Kentucky. They missed all 14 layups that they attempted in the second half.
The last made layup for Arkansas came with 4:01 left in the first half and they would miss their next 15 to finish the game. On the flip side, Kentucky made 10 layups in this game which is a 16-point disparity on layups alone. You just can’t win games with those kind of numbers.
“Obviously tonight, 2 for 20 around the rim, you’re not going to win a lot of games,” said [autotag]Eric Musselman[/autotag]. “I can’t remember a game where I’ve had a team have only six turnovers and not win the game.”
Poor rebounding and paint production
(Photo by Nelson Chenault – USA TODAY Sports)
For the third straight game, Arkansas was completely dominated inside on both ends of the floor. The trio of [autotag]Makhi Mitchell[/autotag], [autotag]Makhel Mitchell[/autotag] and [autotag]Jalen Graham[/autotag] struggled to produce on offense and allowed Oscar Thsiebwe to wreak havoc.
The Razorbacks’ big man trio combined for 4 points, 6 rebounds, 5 fouls and a -7 plus/minus rating against Tshiebwe.
“We tried to be a little more physical. He still played a good game,” said Musselman. “You look at his numbers, 12 and 13 is still a good game. He’s a great rebounder and he plays really hard.”
Another important area to look at is points in the paint and second chance points. Kentucky outscored Arkansas 36-26 in the paint and 17-9 on second chance points. Again, that’s just not winning basketball. Especially when you consider that the Razorbacks actually outrebounded the Wildcats on the offensive glass 17-10. But out of those 17 offensive rebounds, they were only able to get 9 second chance points.
As I mentioned after the loss to Tennessee earlier this week, Arkansas cannot win games getting absolutely dominated down low like this. The Razorbacks are just not playing good basketball and are limping into March unlike the last two seasons. There’s a lot of areas that Arkansas needs to improve in, and with the regular season being over – time is running out.
If there’s any March magic left on the “Muss Bus,” this year’s team is going to need every last bit of it.
