Gerald enjoys official visit at Arkansas
Hogs hosting two on final weekend
LSU hit 15 shots from 3-point range, and Arkansas only hit three as the Tigers completed the sweep against the Razorbacks with a 94-86 win Saturday afternoon in front of 9,272 in attendance at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU, which beat Arkansas 75-54 less than a month ago in Baton Rouge, did not take their first lead until Daryl Edwards hit his first 3-pointer of the day to give the Tigers (13-9, 4-6 SEC) a 13-12 lead with 12:05 remaining in the first half. LSU led the rest of the game. Arkansas (15-8, 4-6 SEC) made small runs to get the lead down to 4 points twice in the second half, 61-57 with 11:34 left and 68-64 with 9:18 left, but they never got ahead on the scoreboard.
LSU made eight shots from downtown in the first half and came out with three quick ones in the second half in just over two minutes to take their largest lead of the game at 13 points, 52-39. The Tigers finished 15 of 30 from beyond the arc. Arkansas ranks 189 in the nation in opponent 3-point percentage at 35.2 percent on the season.
Freshman guard Tremont Waters finished with 27 points and 11 assists to lead LSU. The Tigers were 29 of 55 from the floor (52.7 percent) and 21 of 23 from the free throw line (91.3 percent). Arkansas out-rebounded LSU 30-25 and narrowly won the turnover battle 12-11. With so many made 3-pointers, it’s no wonder Arkansas outscored LSU 48-22 in the paint.
Arkansas went back to the starting lineup they used most often after experimenting a great deal in recent weeks. It was Anton Beard, Daryl Macon, Jaylen Barford, Dustin Thomas and Daniel Gafford. Macon led Arkansas with 22 points and 5 assists. Arkansas was 33 of 50 from the floor (55 percent), including 17 of 25 (68 percent) in the second half. For the game, Arkansas was just 3 of 8 from 3-point range (37.5 percent) and 17 of 24 from the line (70.8 percent).
SECOND HALF
It was an 8-point LSU lead, 43-35, coming out of the half. Three 3-pointers from LSU in the first 2 minutes and 1 second of the second half helped the Tigers take their largest lead of the game, 13 points, 52-39. The Tigers had 10 made 3-pointers at that time.
Arkansas got the lead down to 7 points after 5 quick points from Macon and Barford to make it 55-48 with 15:27 to go. After going down 11 again with 13:08 left on a layup by Waters, 61-50 for LSU, Arkansas came back with 7 unanswered points to take the lead down to 4, 61-57, on a pair of free throws by Darious Hall with 11:34 remaining.
Arkansas had to battle back again to get the lead down to 4 points on a 3-pointer by Barford with 9:18 left, 68-64, but the next possession Barford lost his handle on the ball and turned it over. Then Macon travelled and turned it over as the Tigers went on a 7-0 run to go back up 11 with 7:23 left.
Continuing the second-half trend, Arkansas came right back with 5 points to get it back down to 6, 78-72 with 4:38 remaining on a layup by Macon. LSU had it back out to 11, 87-76, with 1:15 left. Arkansas tried to get back in it but LSU was too much as the Tigers took a 94-86 win.
FIRST HALF
After Arkansas got an 8-4 lead on a driving transition layup by Barford with 16:20 to go in the first half, the Tigers proceeded to outscore the Razorbacks 12-4 over the next 4 minutes and 49 seconds to take a 16-12 lead with 11:31 to play after back-to-back 3-pointers from Edwards.
Arkansas hit a long scoring drought after a long jumper by Arlando Cook rattled home with 10:44 to play in the half. LSU scored the next 10 points to go up by 12, 28-16 with 5:58 to play. The Arkansas drought lasted 5 minutes and 10 seconds, from the 10:44 mark until 5:34 remained, after a jumper from Trey Thompson made it 28-18.
Starting with Thompson's bucket, Arkansas went on a 9-2 run to cut LSU’s lead down to 5 points, 30-25 with 3:33 to go on a 3-point play by Beard.
LSU finished the first half 8 of 18 from 3-point range (44.4 percent), while Arkansas was just 1 of 5 (20 percent).
UP NEXT...
Up next, the Hogs take on South Carolina (13-10, 4-6 SEC) Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena. There are eight regular-season games remaining.
