FAYETTEVILLE -- University of Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman didn't get much time to enjoy the Razorbacks' first road victory of the season.
After the Razorbacks won 65-63 at South Carolina on Saturday, Musselman said as soon as he concluded his Zoom interview with media members, he would immediately turn his attention to tonight's game at Kentucky.
Playing back-to-back road games in four days doesn't leave much time for preparation.
This is the third consecutive week Arkansas is playing games on Saturday and Tuesday, but the first time both are on the road.
"Well, we won this game so it makes it a little bit easier to prepare," Musselman said of beating the Gamecocks. "But obviously a very, very quick turnaround."
One plus for the Razorbacks (16-7, 5-5 SEC) is that their game at Kentucky doesn't start until 8 p.m. Central on ESPN.
"We will take advantage of a late game to try to get some mini film sessions in the day of the game," Musselman said. "That will be extremely important as we lose a prep day basically."
Kentucky (16-7, 7-3) is playing at home after beating Florida 72-67 in Rupp Arena on Saturday.
Tonight marks the fourth of six Saturday-Tuesday SEC games for the Wildcats, but none of those involved back-to-back road games.
Arkansas also will play consecutive Saturday and Tuesday road games at No. 3 Alabama and No. 6 Tennessee on Feb. 25 and on Feb. 28 before finishing the regular season at home against Kentucky on March 4.
The Razorbacks are among 10 SEC teams that have played or will play back-to-back road games on Tuesday and Saturday along with Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
Auburn is the only SEC team so far to sweep Saturday and Tuesday road games with victories at LSU 67-45 and South Carolina 81-66 in January.
Later this month Florida and Georgia play at Arkansas on Tuesday night after Saturday road games.
The Razorbacks have won four consecutive SEC games after a 1-5 start with victories at home over Ole Miss, LSU and Texas A&M before beating South Carolina.
"Four in a row, that'll boost anybody, any team," said Arkansas senior forward Jalen Graham, who had team-high 16 points off the bench against the Gamecocks. "But we've got to stay humble and realize playing in Rupp Arena, it's a big deal.
"Not a lot of people win there, so we've got to play team basketball and come out with a [win]."
South Carolina has lost seven consecutive games, but the Gamecocks are the only SEC team to beat Kentucky at Rupp Arena, 71-68, on Jan. 10.
Since that shocker, the Wildcats have won six consecutive SEC games and lost to No. 9 Kansas 77-68 in Rupp Arena in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
"We know that games in conference right now, at this point of the season in February, they're all hard," Kentucky assistant coach Orlando Antigua said Monday. "So we need to be at our best.
"I think we're playing at a great pace and great rhythm right now, and we want to continue that."
Kentucky 6-9 senior Oscar Tshiebwe, last season's national player of the year who is averaging 16.5 points, was held to 4 against Florida on 2-of-14 shooting, but 6-4 freshman Cason Wallace led the Wildcats with 20 points, 6-9 senior Jacob Toppin added 17 and 6-3 senior CJ Fredrick 12.
Kentucky 6-5 senior Antonio Reeves, a transfer from Illinois State averaging 13.4 points, also was held to 4 against Florida.
"I think it's a testament to the team when two of your leading scorers don't reach their averages and you still manage to score 70-plus points," Antigua said. "It gives an opportunity for other guys to step up."
Tshiebwe had 15 rebounds against Florida -- the ninth game this season he's had at least that many with a high of 24 in Kentucky's 85-71 victory over Georgia. His average of 13.6 rebounds leads the nation.
When Arkansas beat Kentucky 75-73 in Walton Arena last season, Tshiebwe had 30 points and 18 rebounds. Of his 286 rebounds this season, 113 are on offense -- an average of 5.4 per game.
"The biggest thing is he plays volleyball with offensive rebounds," Musselman said. "He's so quick off his feet. He draws fouls around the rim."
Tshiebwe has 33 steals and 19 blocked shots.
"Defensively, he's got good anticipation," Musselman said. "He's a high, high steal player for his position. He blocks shots at the defensive end. He's just tenacious.
"He's relentless on the glass and so you've got to match that energy."
Arkansas is led by its guard trio of 6-6 junior Ricky Council (17.0 points per game), 6-7 freshman Anthony Black (12.5) and 6-4 junior Davonte Davis (11.0)
"I'm expecting a tough challenge," Antigua said. "They've won four in a row in conference. They've got a really talented team. Three of the best guards in the league.
"They're going to be well prepared. They've got a great coach in Coach Musselman."
In SEC games, Council and Davis are each averaging 14.5 points and Black 12.9.
"Ricky Council is certainly one of those guys that on any given night can go off for 30," Antigua said. "We have a great challenge in terms of trying to contain him.
"Davonte Davis has been playing ridiculously [in Arkansas' SEC winning streak] as well as Anthony Black, a 6-7, 200-pound point guard that can really pass the ball and has a great feel for the game."
Black, Council and Davis played 40 minutes at South Carolina. All three are used to playing heavy minutes, especially in SEC games with Black averaging 37.3, Davis 36.8 and Council 35.1.
"Kentucky's a good team," Council said. "They started off the season slow. People were having their own comments about them, but they're still a good team with a really good coach.
"So I know they're going to be ready to play, and we've got to be ready to play as well."