Coach John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks (15-9, 4-7 SEC) got back in the win column Wednesday night after defeating the LSU Tigers, 70-58, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Arkansas started the game a little sluggish, but some big buckets by Zvonimir Ivisic settled things for the Hogs against LSU, who were tied up, 9-9, at the first media timeout following a Johnell Davis steal.
LSU continued to dictate the flow of the game, especially with Ivisic and Thiero sitting on the bench. With 11:55 minutes to go in the first half, the Razorbacks trailed 14-13 and were shooting 6-of-14 from the field.
The Razorbacks' defense stood tall, though, and held LSU to a 2:09 scoring drought, in which Arkansas scored eight points to take a 21-16 lead at the 7:58 minute mark.
Over the next stretch, LSU really looked like a team with a 1-9 SEC record, but Arkansas matched the Tigers' sloppiness and only lead 28-26 with 3:50 minutes left in the half. A good sign was the shooting emergence of Davis, who hit two pullup midrange jumpers to keep the offense flowing.
Following a Karter Knox three and Vyctorius Miller triple, LSU held a 35-34 advantage over Arkansas at the half.
Arkansas got off to a much better start in the second half and by the 12:29 minute mark, it led LSU by eight points after a Billy Richmond transition layup. Unfortunately for the Hogs, they went on a nearly four-minute scoring drought before getting their next bucket — an Ivisic three-pointer.
Behind Ivisic's continued offensive dominance, the Razorbacks gained their biggest SEC home lead of the season at 11 points, 65-54. They never relinquished that gap, and the Hogs held on to defeat the Tigers.
Below are game highlights and social media reactions from Arkansas' conference win...
HIGHLIGHTS
