All the ingredients were in place for a serious disappointment in Fayetteville. The Hogs couldn’t hit free throws and were bossed around the paint for much of the afternoon against LSU, but a strong stretch of play in the final 10 minutes enabled the Razorbacks to escape, 85-81.
Darius Acuff had a career-high 31 points, hitting his final 10 field goals. Meleek Thomas had 14 points, but the rest of the Razorback roster mostly struggled. The Hogs got worked on the boards, fouled too much, and struggled to finish in the paint or make free throws. The trailed by four at the half (37-33), and the Tigers expanded that lead to 45-37 early in the second half. A strong run by the Hogs retook the late, and Arkansas got it to as much as eight before having to hold on for the finish.
A win is a win, and Arkansas is now 5-2 in SEC play.
- Box Score Breakdown: Arkansas 83, Oklahoma 79
- Matchup Analysis: Arkansas’ 3-point defense must travel in order to beat Oklahoma
- Box Score Breakdown: Arkansas 85, LSU 81
Advanced stats
The way this game played out, Arkansas probably loses in most years. The Tigers led most of the way.
We talked in the preview about the paint being a big issue, as LSU both scores frequently in the paint and defends it well on the other end. Early on, the Hogs were dominated in the paint, but they ended up just minus-6.
Arkansas allowed a 36% offensive rebound rate, allowed 0.41 free throw attempts per field goal attempt, and let the Tigers take 59% of their shots in the paint. Most days, that gets you beat, even before you consider the Hogs going 7 of 18 from the free throw line. But the Hogs ended up shooting better than 60% from all three levels from the field, and that 65% eFG% was enough to carry the day, especially once the three-pointers started falling in the second half.
Easy MVP award goes to Acuff, with Thomas and either Karter Knox (plus-7 in 24 minutes), DJ Wagner (plus-0.5 net points produced), or Billy Richmond III (11 points, plus-5) rounding out the trio. Poor Malique Ewin had an awful game, with two bad turnovers and several misses around the rim.
For LSU, next time I need to knock on wood before praising an opponent’s “secret MVP”. I wrote about Tamba in the preview:
LSU’s actual best player per our player metrics is actually 6’7 small forward Pablo Tamba, a Spanish transfer from UC Davis. The numbers don’t jump out (7.0 points, 7.1 rebounds), but his plus-minus has been off the charts in every lineup combination and against opponents good and bad.
Tamba brings home LSU’s MVP honors, with plus-4.2 net points produced. He had 12 points and 10 rebounds in 37 minutes. The dangerous paint combo that I warned about, Marquel Sutton and Michael Nwoko, combined for 27 points and 10 rebounds, though it could have been worse, as Sutton was actually below his season averages.
Overall, I thought LSU looked decent. They lack high-end talent and consistency has been a huge problem, but if they figure it out they might can avoid finishing bottom-3 in the conference this year.
Other scores
Tennessee 79, Alabama 76. This was easily the most hilarious result of the day. Charles Bediako made his debut and had 13 points only for the Tide to drop a home game against the struggling Vols. If you aren’t sure whether you should root against Bediako, I wrote down all my thoughts on why him gaining eligibility is very bad for the sport.
Kentucky 72, Ole Miss 63. Umm, that’s five straight SEC wins for Kentucky. They’ve been close and none were against elite teams, but the Wildcats are tied with the Hogs for second in the SEC right now. If they can knock off Vanderbilt in the midweek – a big if – they’ll be in a six-game win streak coming to Fayetteville next Saturday.
Vanderbilt 88, Mississippi State 56. Good job to the Commodores for ending their three-game losing streak in style. The Hogs host the Bulldogs in two weeks, but they are fading fast.
Auburn 76, Florida 67. This was a shocking result from Gainesville, as Steven Pearl’s team continues to be incredibly inconsistent. It also highlights that Florida’s recent run of success has not made them the unquestioned favorite in the SEC race.
Texas A&M 92, South Carolina 69. The Aggies now sit in first place in the SEC race. We’re about to find out just how good Bucky Ball is, since four of the Aggies’ next five are against ranked teams. If they survive those, we’ll see them in Fayetteville on February 26th.
Highlights
Up next
The midweek opponent is Oklahoma on Tuesday night in Norman. The Sooners have lost six straight SEC games, including a buzzer-beater defeat at the hands of Missouri on Saturday. As the Sooners have struggled, this one has tilted from “ought to win” to “really need to have”. A loss would be a bad look, even if the Hogs can recover from road losses.
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