No. 21 Georgia handled business at home on Saturday to hand No. 17 Arkansas a 90-76 loss in a battle between two of the better teams in the SEC.
Georgia jumped on the Razorbacks 11-0 to start the game before Darius Acuff Jr. finally hit a trey to put the Hogs on the scoreboard with 16:36 remaining in the opening half. But following Acuff's basket, the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run to go up 19-3. It was another big hole for the Hogs on a Saturday road game in the SEC. John Calipari was obviously not happy with the outcome.
"One good thing and I told them we fought," Calipari said.
The Razorbacks did fight back to tie the game at 68 on Acuff basket with 6:43 remaining on the scoreboard. The Hogs then tied it at 70, but Georgia went on a 10-0 run to put the game away 80-70 with 2:20 remaining.
"We had two breakdowns late," Calipari said. "And that's what happens. We didn't play pick and roll a certain way when those guards came up and we are down two, back away from the guy and give him a three.
"That's fine, then a couple of minutes to go and we're down two. We miss a couple of layups, fumble a couple of balls and down 10. We can't down 16 (points) or whatever it was on the road and expect to win."
Calipari brought Karter Knox off the bench for the second game in a row. He finished with eight points and added seven rebounds.
"I thought Karter Knox did a great job," Calipari said. "And I'm trying to get him locked in to do just that. The other stuff will happen on its own. You do that rebounding and then with that 41-inches all of a sudden you are a different player."
Arkansas (13-5, 3-2) was led by Acuff with 20 points while he also contributed six rebounds, half dozen assists and four steals. Billy Richmond III once again got the start and provided a spark defensively. He also chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds. Malique Ewin came off the bench to score 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and blocked a shot.
Georgia (15-3, 3-2) was led by Jeremiah Wilkinson with 20 points, two rebounds, three assists and four steals. Kanon Catchings pitched in 15 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals. Dominique Wilkins' son, Jake, added 11 points for the Bulldogs off the bench.
On Wednesday when the Razorbacks beat South Carolina they had four turnovers. On Saturday they had 18 while forcing 17. But Arkansas didn't take advantage of the Bulldogs' miscues scoring only 15 points compared to 29 for the home squad. The Razorbacks did win the boards 43-35.
Both teams shot 16 free throws with Georgia making 14 to 13 for the Razorbacks. Arkansas shot 40% (29-72) from the field and only 24% (5-21) from deep. Meleek Thomas had a rough day shooting off the bench. He scored nine points, had six rebounds and three assists. But he was 4-17 from the field and 1-6 from behind the 3-point line. Georgia shot 46% (32-69) from the field and 36% (12-33) from deep.
Arkansas will return to Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday night to host No. 10 Vanderbilt at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Vanderbilt (16-2, 3-2) had a rough week in the SEC. They fell to Florida 98-94 on Saturday in Nashville. Previously undefeated they fell to Texas 80-64 on the road on Wednesday night.