Three things to watch when Kentucky basketball plays Arkansas at Rupp Arena

Three things I’ll be watching when Kentucky plays host to Arkansas at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Rupp Arena:

1. Reed Sheppard, of course

Everyone these days is watching Reed Sheppard. The Kentucky freshman is coming off a 32-point performance at Mississippi State on Tuesday in which he hit the winning shot with 0.5 seconds left. He also dished seven assists, grabbed five rebounds, blocked two shots and made two steals.

He also came off the bench. And he should continue to come off the bench, despite the fact that CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone wrote a story Friday saying that the Cats are overcoming head coach John Calipari, who by not having Sheppard and Rob Dillingham in the starting lineup is not getting the most out of his two best players.

That might look good on paper. It doesn’t look as good to those who actually watch the Cats play game after game. Cal has rotation set. D.J. Wagner and Antonio Reeves start. Reed and Rob sub in often before the first TV timeout. Sheppard played 35 minutes at Mississippi State.

What matters is who’s on the court at the end of the game. Sheppard scored 23 points in UK’s final 12 minutes in Starkville. He scored 11 of the Cats’ final 15 points. He doesn’t have to start to have a major impact on the game.

2. Kentucky’s defense vs. Arkansas

In Kentucky’s 63-57 win over Arkansas in Fayetteville back on Jan. 27, the Cats held the Razorbacks to 0.808 points per possession. That’s the lowest points per possession vs. Kentucky by an SEC team this season. It’s the second-lowest number by a UK opponent all season, trailing only the 0.654 by New Mexico State in the season opener.

Can the Cats put the clamps on the Hogs again? Kentucky currently ranks 86th in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to Ken Pomeroy. UK is 260th in defensive rebounding, 97th in 3-point defense and 138th in two-point defense. Mississippi State averaged 1.201 points per possession Tuesday night on the way to 89 points.

Meanwhile, Arkansas ranks 121st in adjusted offensive efficiency. The Razorbacks are 264th in 3-point percentage and 171st in two-point percentage. They are also 280th in offensive rebound percentage.

3. Will Eric Musselman lose his mind?

Arkansas being 14-14 overall, including 5-10 in the SEC, coming off an 85-82 home loss to lowly Vanderbilt, is not where Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks expected to be at this point season. Remember, Arkansas was ranked 14th in the AP Top 25 preseason poll.

Musselman appears anguished even when things are going well for the Hogs. This season, the 59-year-old coach has looked one step away from a nervous breakdown. He’s changed lineups, styles, rotations, defenses, offenses, you name it, without much luck. This could be Coach Muss’ first losing season since 2006-07 when his Sacramento Kings went 33-49.

Consider that Arkansas has lost 83-51 to Auburn, 90-68 at Florida, 77-51 at Ole Miss, 95-74 at LSU and 92-63 at home to Tennessee. That’s five losses by 20 or more points. Missouri is winless in the SEC, but the Tigers have lost just once by 20-plus points — 75-51 to Mississippi State.

If the Hogs take another beatdown Saturday at Rupp, that might be more than Musselman can stand.

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