Kentucky needs to be ready for Arkansas's best shot on Saturday

Arkansas is going to give the Kentucky Wildcats their best shot.

Jan 28, 2025; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) moves the ball against the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images / Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

The Arkansas Razorbacks are coming into Rupp Arena on Saturday, and there are a lot of narratives bigger than basketball in this game. Of course, the return of John Calipari is the main talking point of this game, but three players from Kentucky's 2023-24 roster will play for him in this game.

DJ Wagner, Adou Thiero, and Zvonimir Ivisic will all make their return to Rupp Arena on Saturday as well and these players are going to want to pull off the upset. These former Wildcats are going to hear some boos rain over Rupp Arena targeted at themselves and their coach, which will fuel the fire.

Kentucky is the better basketball team, but Arkansas's motivation will be at an all-time high in this basketball game. Thiero was interviewed this week about this game and discussed how he has been looking forward to this game even before he committed to Arkansas.

The Wildcats will be double-digit favorites in this basketball game, but the Hogs are going to fight from start to finish.

Coach Mark Pope's team needs to block out all of the outside noise and go play their game. This team is coming off a massive upset over Tennessee in Knoxville, so Coach Pope needs to make sure his team isn't hungover from the emotional win.

If Kentucky plays similarly to the way they did on Tuesday in Knoxville, they should win this game with no problem. Kentucky very well could be shorthanded on Saturday, so Koby Brea, Otega Oweh, Jaxson Robinson, and Amari Williams all need to step up.