The LSU Tigers were defeated by the No. 21 Arkansas Razorbacks, 91-62, on Tuesday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Arkansas opened the game with an eight-point run and maintained a double-digit lead within the first five minutes. By halftime, the Razorbacks led 42-27.
LSU struggled offensively throughout the game, shooting just 30.9 percent from the field and converting only three of their 21 attempts from beyond the arc. The Tigers also made just over 63 percent of their free throws.
Marquel Sutton was LSU’s top scorer with 18 points and six rebounds. Pablo Tamba contributed 11 points and seven rebounds, while Robert Miller III added 10 points and five boards.
For Arkansas, Darius Acuff Jr. led all scorers with 28 points and five assists. Meleek Thomas had 20 points, Trevon Brazile recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds (alongside five blocks), and Billy Richmond III scored 13 points.
Arkansas dominated inside, scoring 64 points in the paint compared to LSU’s 34. However, LSU outrebounded Arkansas overall (43-36) and grabbed more offensive boards (21-8). The Razorbacks shot efficiently at nearly 57 percent for the game, including over 64 percent in the second half.
After the loss, LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon said: “Before I get to our, tremendous credit tonight to Arkansas. I thought they performed on an incredibly high level. The back court with two freshman guards in (Darius) Acuff Jr. and (Meleek) Thomas, they’re just fantastic. With Acuff, you throw different coverages at him, but he plays with great poise and he makes the right play it seems like 99% of the time. On the defensive side of the ball, we had some opportunities on the offensive glass and some opportunities around the rim, but their rim protection led by (Trevon) Brazile was strong and we could not finish around the basket. On a night where you’re really struggling from behind the three-point line, it’s difficult to keep up with their offensive firepower. Tremendous credit to Arkansas for a great performance. Injury wise – you saw Max Mackinnon injured his knee there. We don’t think it’s anything serious, but he’ll be evaluated in the morning and we’ll see where we stand from there moving forward.”
Addressing his team’s performance McMahon added: “I don’t think it was a lack of energy. There was a lack of execution at times, but I think tempo-wise that Arkansas’ efficiency in the half court with Acuff leading the charge there that we have to score some. You’re not going to hold them (defensively) – they average almost 90 points a game. They had 42 at the half, but we were 34% from the floor, two-of-10 from three-point range, and we were three-of-seven from the line and that doesn’t include the front end of a one-and-one free throw. We left some opportunities on the board and certainly wouldn’t have gone in (to half) with the lead, but we have to be a lot more efficient offensively in the first half to keep that single digit game going into the break.”
Fifth-year senior forward Marquel Sutton commented on maintaining unity during tough games: “We have to stay together. A game like this we can’t separate from each other. We have to stay together. Play team basketball and show that our brotherhood is still in full effect.” Regarding Arkansas’ success near LSU’s basket Sutton said: “Like Pablo (Tamba) said beating us off the dribble. We were working on them cutting from the corner and the 45 cuts. They got a couple of those. I would just say beating us off the dribble and just being physical.”
Graduate student forward Pablo Tamba spoke about struggles scoring inside: “It’s obviously disappointing since we work a lot on our game. But I think it was a thing of confidence today… Unlike what we did at their place… I think that what was missing today for sure.” On improvements needed he added: “I think we got to improve most on our confidence… You can see on court our guys doubting themselves starting with me… That’s what we have to do… We have done that before… So we can perform that way.”
Arkansas Head Coach John Calipari gave his perspective after watching recent LSU games: “I watched LSU’s last two games… We played really good today… This is more about us than it was about LSU.” He noted improvements in defense saying: “We were so bad defensively two or three weeks ago… Some of it [rebounding], we just have to grab ball…” Calipari mentioned injuries as well: “Malique (Ewin) had to get four stitches… hopefully he’ll be alright.”
LSU will play its next two games away—first against Tennessee in Knoxville before traveling to Austin for a matchup against Texas next week.
