FAYETTEVILLE -- University of Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman has shortened his playing rotation the last two games.
The Razorbacks essentially have gone with seven players with Anthony Black, Ricky Council, Davonte Davis and twins Makhi and Makhel Mitchell starting and Jordan Walsh and Jalen Graham as reserves.
Those seven were the only Razorbacks who played in an 81-70 victory over Texas A&M last Tuesday night in Walton Arena, then they all played Saturday when Arkansas won 65-63 at South Carolina along with Kamani Johnson getting in for 1 minute, 7 seconds.
"I think we've settled into a rotation of seven right now," Musselman said. "And then who that eighth guy becomes will kind of vary based on how the game unfolds and based on how matchups are, and quite frankly, based on practice habits and so on."
Walsh played 33 minutes at South Carolina and had a team-high 10 rebounds and 4 points and Graham had a team-high 16 points in 21 minutes.
Against Texas A&M, Walsh played 27 minutes and had 12 points and 7 rebounds and Graham had 5 points and 2 blocked shots in 12 minutes.
Black, Council and Davis played all 40 minutes at South Carolina. Against the Aggies, Council played 39 minutes, Black 38 and Davis 37.
With Kentucky starting two 6-9 seniors in Oscar Tshiebwe and Jacob Toppin, it won't be a surprise if the Mitchell twins -- 6-10 Makhel and 6-9 Makhi -- stay in the starting lineup tonight when the Razorbacks play the Wildcats in Rupp Arena.
But Walsh figures to play big minutes again whether he starts or comes off the bench based on his recent production.
"I'm not sure how we will start going into the Kentucky game," Musselman said. "We'll meet as a staff and discuss that."
Graham has been effective on offense most of the time he's gotten an opportunity to play, but he had just two rebounds in 21 minutes at South Carolina. That could cost him playing time tonight considering Kentucky has a plus-7.7 rebounding margin.
South Carolina 7-0 center Josh Gray matched his career-high with 14 rebounds against the Razorbacks along with a career-high 20 points.
The Gamecocks outrebounded the Razorbacks 34-32, including 13 offensive boards, and scored 12 second-chance points.
"If we don't rebound better [tonight], we're not going to get the result we got [at South Carolina]," Musselman said on Arkansas' postgame radio show. "We have to defensive rebound. We've got to control the paint area much better than we did."
Davis from deep
Hitting three-pointers used to be a weakness for Arkansas junior guard Davonte Davis.
But not in the last eight games.
Davis has hit 20 of 45 three-pointers (44.4%) in that span, including 4 of 8 and 4 of 10 in the last two games against Texas A&M and at South Carolina. The four made three-pointers match his career high for a game.
In Davis' first 81 games before the latest eight-game stretch, he shot 29 of 126 on three-pointers (23.0%). He is averaging 16.8 points the last eight games compared to 8.3 points in his first 81 games.
Three-point threats
Kentucky is shooting an SEC-best 36.8% on three-pointers (159 of 432).
The Wildcats' top three-point shooter is 6-5 senior Antonio Reeves, a transfer from Illinois State who has hit 52 of 126 (41.3%) and is averaging 13.4 points.
"Reeves is a great scorer, he can really shoot the ball," Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said. "You've got to ID him as he crosses half court. He's a really good transition three-ball shooter."
Other three-point threats for the Wildcats are 6-4 freshman Cason Wallace (39 of 95 for 41.1%) and 6-3 senior CJ Fredrick (32 of 94 for 34.0%), a transfer from Iowa who sat out last season because of a hamstring injury.
Fredrick hit 83 of 178 three-pointers (46.6%) in two seasons at Iowa.
"Streaky shooter, a guy that was a focal point offensively at his prior university and a go-to guy prior to coming to Kentucky," Musselman said. "Now he's kind of evolved into a guy that they need points from as well."
Respect for Muss
Kentucky assistant coach Orlando Antigua, who spoke with the media Monday, had high praise for Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman.
"I just know he's a coach's coach," Antigua said. "He's been in the industry for a lot of years. He does a great job. I've got a lot of respect for him.
"We both had a chance to coach in the FIBA tournaments in the past. I've just got a lot of respect and a lot of admiration for him and his staff."
Rhode Island guys
Three transfers from Rhode Island are in the projected starting lineups for tonight with Arkansas senior forwards and twins Makhel and Makhi Mitchell and Kentucky senior forward Jacob Toppin.
While all three came to the SEC from Rhode Island, they weren't teammates for the Rams.
The Mitchell twins transferred to Arkansas this season after playing two years at Rhode Island.
Toppin, in his third season at Kentucky, played at Rhode Island as a freshman in 2019-20, when the Mitchells were at Maryland.
Pass happy
Eric Musselman prefers his team have at least 200 passes each game, and the Razorbacks surpassed that by quite a bit at South Carolina.
"We had 220 passes, so we did a good job sharing the ball," Musselman said. "Twenty passes over our 200 mark is an incredible number."
Preseason poll
Kentucky and Arkansas have both fallen out of The Associated Press poll after being ranked in the top 10 in the preseason.
The Wildcats were ranked No. 4 and the Razorbacks No. 10.
Each team has seven losses but has been playing better lately. Kentucky has won six consecutive SEC games and Arkansas has won four conference games in a row.