Hogs suffer ugly loss at LSU

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Eric Musselman has long joked about saving timeouts. He ended up using three in the first 15 minutes of Wednesday’s game and would have called more if he could.

No amount of timeouts could have stopped the bleeding, though, as LSU outscored Arkansas by 34 points during an 11-minute stretch in the first half of its easy 92-76 win at the Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge.

A late rally made the score a little more respectable and helped the Razorbacks avoid their worst loss since Musselman took over before last season, but they still dropped to 10-3 overall and 2-3 in SEC play this year.

It was the fifth time he’s lost by double digits at Arkansas, but Musselman said the way they lost Wednesday was comparable to only a 27-point loss at New Mexico when he was Nevada two years ago.

“Maybe one other time in six years have I ever had a team not play with great intensity,” Musselman said. “We were undefeated and ranked in the top 10, so a little bit different than this.”

It took a few minutes before it got ugly, as Arkansas actually scored the first four points of the game and then Connor Vanover - who was just 2 of 16 from beyond the arc the previous five games - knocked down a three-pointer to give the Razorbacks a 7-4 lead early.

Things fell apart from there.

Seven consecutive missed shots, including five three-pointers, and three turnovers led to a 5.5-minute scoreless stretch in which LSU scored 21 straight. Musselman called his first timeout after the first 16 of those points.

“LSU came out ready from the jump,” Musselman said. “I thought we had guys trying to do things that are not characteristic of them. Just an overall poor performance.”

Vance Jackson Jr. ended the run by making a layup, but the Tigers immediately responded with a Aundre Hyatt three that bounced high off the rim before falling through the hoop.

That started another eight straight points by LSU, forcing Musselman to call his second timeout in the game’s first 10 minutes.

Ultimately, the Tigers ended up outscoring the Razorbacks 40-6 over the aforementioned 11-minute stretch, with Musselman calling his third timeout late in that run, to take a 31-point lead with about six minutes left in the half.

At that point, Arkansas was just 5 of 23 (21.7 percent) from the floor and had made only one of its nine three-point attempts.

“They played a 1-3-1 and we did not attack it as we were supposed to,” Musselman said. “We didn't get the ball into the teeth of the defense at the nail and then make spray-out plays. We settled for three-point shots. That about sums it up.”

That pretty much put the game out of reach, but JD Notae caught fire to cut into the deficit, scoring seven points in a 12-0 run that pulled the Razorbacks within 19.

He and Moses Moody each knocked down a three in the final two minutes of the half to cut it to 18 twice, but Cameron Thomas added a pair of free throws to make it 51-31 at halftime.

Notae scored 14 of his team-high 22 points - which came on 8 of 20 shooting, including 3 of 10 beyond the arc - in the first half, but Musselman did not sound particularly pleased with his performance.

“I mean, JD, he can score the ball, but he's got to defend, he’s got to move the ball more,” Musselman said. “Tonight, offensively there was a lot of shallow, hollow, whatever word you want to use, stats.”

A couple of free throws by Moody on the opening possession of the second half cut the deficit to 18 again, but it was once again short-lived. LSU scored the next six points and led by at least 20 until the final five minutes of the game.

When Mwani Wilkinson threw down a dunk to make it 84-60 with 6:25 remaining, the Tigers were still on pace to become the first unranked team in 25 years to score 100 points against the Razorbacks.

However, they took the foot off the pedal and Arkansas briefly fought back into it with a 13-2 run to get within 13 with three minutes left. That spurt proved to be too little, too late.

It was a dramatic contrast to the Razorbacks’ last game, when they blew out Georgia at home on Saturday. In fact, it was a 46-point swing from one game to the next.

“I just think that as a team we played so well against Georgia and you’ve got to understand as a young student-athlete that the next game is a completely different game,” Musselman said. “So there’s no carryover.”

All nine available scholarship players saw the floor Wednesday night, but Musselman said he was pleased with only two of them and both were freshmen - Moody and Jaylin Williams.

Despite scoring just 7 points, Williams was efficient offensively and matched his career high with 10 rebounds in 28 minutes before fouling out.

“He played within his game,” Musselman said. “He was 2 of 3 from the field, he made his three free throws, he had 10 rebounds. I didn’t think that he was nervous about playing LSU. I think he did a great job.”

Even though his outside shot wasn’t falling (1 of 5), Moody managed to still score 18 points on 7 of 18 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.

Incredibly, the Razorbacks were outscored by only three in the 35 minutes and 47 seconds he was on the floor. During the 4 minutes and 13 seconds he was on the bench, LSU outscored Arkansas 15-2.

“I thought Moses battled offensively,” Musselman said. “He had five offensive rebounds. I think he put forth effort. … I felt like he and Jaylin were the two guys that were the most productive tonight.”

As a team, Arkansas shot 34.2 percent from the floor, while LSU shot 52.3 percent.

The Razorbacks’ percentage was hurt by a pair of starters combining to make just 2 of 19 attempts, as freshman Davonte Davis went 1 of 11 and Jackson - coming off 14- and 15-point outings - went 1 of 8. Take out those two players and Arkansas’ shooting percentage goes up to 42.1 percent.

“We have guys that are defenders and rebounders at their position and they went out and tried to score,” Musselman said. “I mean, really it’s hard to win when you got a guy go 1 of 8 and a guy go 1 of 11. It’s the same story as when we played Missouri. If your shots aren’t falling, you’ve got to have better shot selection.”

It doesn’t get any easier for Arkansas, which now has to turn around and play the team atop the SEC standings Saturday. The Razorbacks will travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to face the conference’s lone undefeated team that has played more than one game: Alabama (10-3, 5-0).

"We've got to come into practice tomorrow ready to go,” Williams said. “We've got to get better. We can't let this happen again. We've just got to fight to get better as a team."

Tip off against the Crimson Tide is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.