No. 9 Arkansas opened conference play Wednesday with a 60-57 loss to the LSU Tigers on the road in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The game started out as a low-scoring affair, but picked up in the second half. For most of the game, it was a back and forth battle with plenty of physicality and intensity.
Arkansas shot an uncharacteristically high volume of 3-pointers right out of the gate. In the first half the Razorbacks finished 0-for-13 from behind the arc.
LSU didn't shoot lights out, either, as it shot only 3-for-11 from downtown in a low-scoring first half affair.
Each team defended at a high-level, with neither team shooting above 30% from the field in the first 20 minutes. There wasn't a great deal of steals or turnovers, though, just a lot of heavily contested shots.
Arkansas freshman Joseph Pinion saw the floor for a brief period and took one shot, only to miss, and he went out soon after. Forward Jalen Graham had a similar short sequence, only without the field goal attempt.
The second half saw the Razorbacks try to climb out of a 24-19 halftime deficit. The 19 first half points were the fewest on the season for Arkansas.
The Razorbacks went on a 5-0 run to start the second half to tie the game, led by a Jordan Walsh paint score and Davonte Davis three-pointer. From there, it was a back and forth contest throughout.
Arkansas took its first lead of the second half at the 15:45 mark, going up 32-30 with a Walsh layup. The largest the Razorback lead ever grew was six points at the 9:20 mark. The Tigers then went on to score eight unanswered to take the lead back.
Arkansas took a 51-49 lead with 3:46 to go in the game, but LSU immediately tied it up before taking a 53-52 lead, which it did not give up for the rest of the game.
Davis led the Razorbacks in scoring with 16 points. He was one of three Razorbacks in double figures. Arkansas finished the game with zero bench points and shot 4-of-25 from three (16.0%) and 5-of-10 from the free throw line (50.0%).
Up next, Arkansas will take on the Missouri Tigers next Wednesday in Bud Walton Arena at 7:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.
