FAYETTEVILLE -- For the first time in 30 years, the University of Arkansas men's basketball team played an SEC game in which both teams scored more than 100 points.
It happened twice in 1994 when the Razorbacks won at Auburn 112-105 and won at LSU 108-105 in overtime.
That 1994 Arkansas team won went on to win SEC and national championships.
This year's Razorbacks (14-15, 5-11) are tied for 11th in the SEC standings with two regular-season games to play. Their only path to playing in the NCAA Tournament is to win the SEC Tournament and earn the SEC's automatic bid.
But on Saturday against No. 16 Kentucky at Rupp Arena, Arkansas had the look of a national contender as it played in another SEC game that saw both teams exceed 100 points.
The Wildcats (21-8, 11-5) had to overcome a nine-point deficit with less than nine minutes left to beat the Razorbacks 111-102.
It was arguably Arkansas' best effort of the season after Vanderbilt beat the Razorbacks 85-82 on Tuesday night at Walton Arena in what might have been their worst game of a disappointing season.
Arkansas became the first home team to lose to Vanderbilt (8-21, 3-13) this season in nine tries.
To underscore what a bad loss it was for the Razorbacks, the Commodores slid back to form on Saturday when LSU led them by 20 points at halftime and cruised to a 75-61 victory at Memorial Gymnasium.
The Arkansas team that lost to Vanderbilt didn't resemble the one that pushed Kentucky to the limit for the second time this season.
Kentucky won 63-57 at Walton Arena on Jan. 27 in another game in which the Wildcats had to rally after trailing in the second half.
The Razorbacks shot 53.1% from the field (34 of 60) in the rematch, including 7 of 17 on three-pointers, and made 27 of 28 free throws.
The 96.4% shooting on free throws was the second-highest by the Razorbacks in an SEC game in which they had a minimum of 12 attempts.
Arkansas shot 100% when it hit 16 of 16 to beat Kentucky 71-67 in overtime at Rupp Arena in 2014. Kikko Haydar, a walk-on guard for the Razorbacks, hit two free throws with 17 seconds left in overtime for the game's final points. Ky Madden shot 8 of 8 and Coty Clarke 6 of 6.
Senior guard Khalif Battle, who led the Razorbacks with 34 points on Saturday, hit 17 of 18 free throws.
"I thought it was by far our best offensive game," Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said. "Not even close.
"Thought we played as hard as we've played all year. The effort. The focus. The belief. All of those things were as good as they've been.
"It was a locker room that pregame thought they were going to win. Halftime thought they were going to win, and throughout the course of the huddles. Thought we showed great toughness.
"Thought we got on the floor for loose balls."
Arkansas has to win both of its last two regular-season games -- against LSU (16-13, 8-8) on Wednesday night and at No. 14 Alabama (20-9, 12-4) this Saturday -- to have a chance to move up to 10th place and avoid opening the SEC Tournament on March 13.
The Razorbacks also need Texas A&M (16-13, 7-9) to lose both of its games this week at home against Mississippi State and at Ole Miss so the teams can tie with 7-11 SEC records. Arkansas would win a tiebreaker over Texas A&M because the Razorbacks went 2-0 against the Aggies.
LSU beat Arkansas 95-74 earlier this season in Baton Rouge. The Razorbacks and Alabama haven't played yet this season.
"We're just going to get in and watch film and see what we did good, see what we did wrong and try to correct it going into the next game," Arkansas guard Tramon Mark, who scored 23 points at Kentucky, said of the team's approach this week. "Watch some film on our opposing team and we're going to try to get the job done next game."
Musselman has continued to try to push the right buttons to bring out the best in his team.
The Razorbacks sent out their 16th different starting lineup of the season against Kentucky.
"Every coach that I've worked for, your job is to try and continue to improve throughout the year," Musselman said. "We did not play very well against Vanderbilt, but we were down double-digits and fought and gave ourselves a chance to put the game into overtime."
Arkansas trailed Vanderbilt by 16 points with 6:07 left, but rallied. Mark missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer.
"Although we played poor basketball in that game, we showed some life towards the end of the game," Musselman said. "Are we making progress? [At Kentucky] we made progress. We played our best offense, did a great job focusing on the foul line in a very tough environment.
"Defensively, we weren't that good, but this team has done that to other teams, especially in their own building."
Kentucky has scored more than 100 points in six games this season, including a 117-95 victory over Alabama at Rupp Arena.
"We had a chance to beat a team that has a chance to win the national championship," Musselman said. "Did we lose? Absolutely.
"All the credit goes to Coach [John] Calipari and Kentucky. But in that locker room that we represent, I'm extremely proud to be associated with their effort and the way they battled.
"That's all you can ask for from a group of young men and that's what they went out and did."