When Scotty Thurman played at Arkansas from 1992-1995, the Razorbacks won three regular-season games against Kentucky, including a 90-82 victory at Rupp Arena in Lexington during the 1993-1994 national championship season.
Saturday, the 18th-ranked Razorbacks (22-5, 11-3 SEC) travel to Lexington to meet No. 1-ranked Kentucky (27-0, 14-0), hoping to spoil the Wildcats' hopes for a perfect season.
Arkansas has won three in a row against Kentucky and swept both games last year in overtime. The Hogs won 87-85 in at Walton Arena in Fayetteville on Michael Qualls' tip-in with 0.2 seconds left on Jan. 14 and 71-67 in Lexington, Ky., on Feb. 27.
While it might be easy for Razorback fans to look ahead to Saturday's game, Thurman, who spoke at the Downtown Tip Off Club Monday at the Wyndham Riverfront hotel in Little Rock, said it's important not to look past tonight's opponent, Texas A&M (19-4, 10-7), at Walton Arena.
"Right now, the focus is on Texas A&M an staying ahead of them in conference standings," Thurman said. "What happened last year doesn't really matter. They're a different team and we're a different team. We're trying to stay alive in the conference race and they're trying to have an undefeated season. I know the main thing Coach Anderson is going to tell them is to just stay focused."
Thurman recalls those victories over the Wildcats with fondness.
"It's a huge rush when you play Kentucky," Thurman said. "When you play against Kentucky, you're playing against all that tradition and history from Adolph Rupp to Kenny Walker, Rex Chapman and Tony Delk. Any win is great, but when you beat Kentucky, it's extra special.
"It's a great rivalry, but Arkansas was down for a while and now Arkansas is trending the right direction."
Arkansas split all six meetings with Kentucky during Thurman's career. The Razorbacks won 101-94 at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville on Feb. 10, 1993 and 94-92 at Walton Arena on Jan. 29, 1995. However, they lost to the Wildcats in the SEC Tournament all three years. They lost semifinal games 92-81 in 1993 at Rupp Arena; 90-78 at The Pyramid in Memphis in 1994, and 95-93 in overtime in the 1995 championship game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
After Thurman left school following his junior year, Kentucky has dominated the series, winning 18 of the past 25 meetings, including 10 consecutive from 2001-2010.
In his role as as color analyst on radio broadcasts and Director of Student-Athlete Development at Arkansas, Thurman likes what he's seen from the Razorbacks this season.
"If you watch this team play, you'll see some of the leadership skills and a team that's willing to take some constructive criticism," Thurman said. "To me, constructive criticism is like medicine, you might not like it, but you need it.
Thurman likes the fact this team averages 17 assists per game. He likes the improvement he's seen from forward Bobby Portis, who is averaging 17.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game from his freshman season.
"There aren't a lot of players who are 6-a0 and have the skills he does," Thurman said.
He likes what he's seen from freshman guard Anton Beard, who was named SEC freshman of the week Monday. "He's shown a lot of patience and when he got his opportunity, he busted right through," Thurman said.
He also praised the efforts of junior guard Michael Qualls and senior guard Ky Madden.
"You're seeing guys coming in between classes and getting treatment and getting extra shooting," Thurman said. "You're seeing guys eating right and getting proper rest and that wasn't always the case with past teams. I can't say enough about the leadership on this team. I couldn't be prouder to be part of this team.
"These guys are growing right before our eyes and gelling at the right time. I know everyone is talking about making the NCAA Tournament, but Coach Anderson is about winning championships and to do that, you've got to make the tournament first. They have what it takes to win six in a row, but I don't want to put any pressure on them."
Sports on 02/24/2015