Arkansas’ Victory a Class Reunion for Bradley, Reid

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —  As freshmen, Pat Bradley and Kareem Reid led Arkansas to a surprising berth in the NCAA tournament’s round of 16. As seniors, Bradley and Reid were benched after the Razorbacks surprisingly fell out of the national rankings.

Saturday, with an NCAA tournament berth possibly at stake, Coach Nolan Richardson put Bradley and Reid back in the starting lineup and the guards responded with strong performances that led Arkansas to a 74-70 victory over sixth-ranked Kentucky.

Reid and Bradley each played 34 minutes and had identical point totals--17--as the Razorbacks, 19-8 overall and 8-6 in the Southeastern Conference, defeated the Wildcats (21-7, 10-4) for the first time in seven games.

“Our seniors talked about this game all week,” Richardson said. “I told them, ‘This is your team,’ and they came out fighting.”

Arkansas led by 13 points with 7:06 left but Kentucky twice closed within one point in the final two minutes. However, junior Chris Walker made a three-point shot to give the Razorbacks a 72-69 lead and Reid, who didn’t have a turnover against Kentucky’s full-court pressure, increased the lead to four with a free throw with 17 seconds left.

“We’re at a crossroads,” said Richardson, whose team has not been ranked in the Top 25 for three weeks. “We could go down one road we don’t want to go down or we could down the one we want. The road led through Kentucky. Now we’re on the right road.”

Kentucky, meanwhile, is heading in the wrong direction, having lost three of its last five games and fallen into a tie for first place in the SEC Eastern Division with Tennessee.