After last Saturday's failed comeback attempt, Arkansas protected home court tonight, although it didn't look too promising in the first half. Regardless, the Razorbacks get their fourth SEC win of the season with a 70-58 victory over LSU.
The Hogs struggled to get much going in the first 20 minutes. Heading into the locker room, Arkansas shot a decent percentage (44.8) from the field but shot a measly 2-7 from deep. Most importantly, Arkansas couldn't capitalize on second-chance opportunities. While both had six offensive boards, the Razorbacks turned them into only 10 points. However, LSU scored 11, exactly half of the Tigers' total at one point in the game.
But when the Hogs came out for the second period, defensively, they were on fire. LSU couldn't buy a bucket down the stretch, scoring only 23 points in the half. The only offense the Tigers had was to put freshman big man Robert Miller III on Zvonimit Ivisic in the post. However, that only worked for a short time.
Speaking of Big Z, he had another career night. For the second consecutive game, the Croatian Sensation scored 20-plus points (25), made three shots from the arc, and blocked at least three shots (4). The only other Razorbacks to reach double figures were Johnell Davis (11) and DJ Wagner (10).
Since starting 0-5 in SEC play, the Hogs have won four of their last six games, with the only losses coming from No.3 Alabama and Oklahoma. With Arkansas only needing three more SEC games to make the tournament, tonight's was a huge win as the season will get significantly harder. The next three matchups include No. 8 Texas A&M in College Station, No. 1 Auburn in the Jungle, and No. 21 Mizzou for the second time this season, back in Bud Walton.