FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A short-handed Kentucky roster didn’t bat an eye in its regular-season finale at Arkansas. And if the No. 23 Wildcats aren’t back to full strength by the time their SEC Tournament opener rolls around Friday, they can look back on Saturday’s performance as proof they still can play a dominant game.

UK bounced back from a stunning Senior Day loss to Vanderbilt in commanding fashion, topping Arkansas 88-79 at Bud Walton Arena for its sixth Quad-1 win of the season. The Wildcats, ahead of the upcoming SEC Tournament, are now 6-7 in the contests that weigh most heavily in the minds of the NCAA selection committee.

"We have to understand how we've got to play, how we've got to fight, how we have to execute," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "If that means win games like today? Great."

Kentucky (21-10, 12-6 SEC) entered Saturday's game as a 5.5-point underdog. Both of the Wildcats’ primary distributors, Cason Wallace and Sahvir Wheeler, were sidelined for the regular-season finale. And less than a month ago, Arkansas (19-12, 8-10) rolled into Rupp Arena and handed Calipari his second-worst home loss in terms of margin of defeat (88-73) in his 14 seasons at Kentucky. The Hogs did that with two key members of their rotation — guard Nick Smith Jr. and forward Kamani Johnson — unavailable because of injuries.

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But on Saturday the Wildcats were in the driver’s seat nearly the entire game. The first four minutes saw three lead changes and two ties. Arkansas was on top 6-4 at the 17:02 mark of the first half; it never led again.

The formula UK concocted for the decisive victory — and what it can implement in Nashville during the conference tournament, if Wallace isn’t cleared to return (Wheeler will be back for the NCAA Tournament, at the earliest) — isn’t new. The Wildcats merely leaned on their two most dependable scorers this season: Oscar Tshiebwe and Antonio Reeves.

The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Reeves arrived at Kentucky prior to this season with the reputation of a player who can score at every level. He showcased that Saturday, scoring a career- and game-high 37 points while going 12 of 17 from the field, including 2 for 4 on 3-pointers, and sinking all 11 of his free-throw attempts.

"Honestly before the game, I told him," said fellow senior Jacob Toppin, who had 21 points in the win. "... 'We're going to have to step up on offense.' I told him if we have plays, we have to make (them). I told him that. And he just looked at me and smirked a little bit, and I knew. I knew what type of game he was going to have."

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Reeves, in his typical understated manner, shrugged at the career performance.

"I just stuck with my role. That's really what it was," he said. "I know what I can do. ... It was me just being aggressive and making shots."

Tshiebwe engineered yet another double-double — the 46th of his UK career, two away from tying Cotton Nash for second most in program history — with 12 points (on 5-of-11 shooting) and a game-high 13 rebounds before fouling out with 4:53 remaining.

In the absence of Wallace and Wheeler, the Wildcats used a combination of ball handlers to set the offense, with freshman Adou Thiero taking on the lion’s share of the responsibility in his 24 minutes of play — a personal high for a single game.

"He played good today," Calipari said of Thiero, who had a career-high point total (seven) and matched his personal best for rebounds (five). "Missed some shots but you know, he's not perfect."

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Saturday’s victory locked up the 3-seed in the SEC Tournament for the Wildcats. As one of the top-four seeds, UK has a double bye into the quarterfinals Friday. Kentucky will play in the final game of the night, scheduled for 9 p.m., with the opponent to be determined.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky vs Arkansas: Wildcats secure another key NCAA Tournament win