Arkansas plays final home game of season

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will play its final game of the season in Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday night when LSU rolls into Fayetteville.
Arkansas (14-15, 5-11) and LSU (16-13, 8-8) met on Saturday, Feb. 3, with the Tigers taking a 95-74 victory in Baton Rouge. Arkansas went winless last week falling to Vanderbilt at home on Tuesday and then at Kentucky Saturday. Prior to the Vandy loss it appeared the Hogs had gained some momentum. Eric Musselman talked about the fact Arkansas scored 102 points after scoring 57 on Jan. 27 in the first meeting with the Wildcats.
"I thought it was by far our best offensive game," Musselman said. "Not even close. Thought we played as hard as we’ve played all year. The effort. The focus. The belief. All of those things were as good as they’ve been. It was a locker room that pregame thought they were going to win. Halftime, thought they were going to win, and throughout the course of the huddles. Thought we showed great toughness. Thought we got on the floor for loose balls. You look at the field goals made, and it’s 34-to-34. The three-point shots, 7-to-9. We took three less. Rebounding, close enough for us. 28-42 (free throws attempted). That’s the number that sticks out to me."
LSU can relate to best offensive showing. The 95 points they put up against Arkansas is the best offensive showing they have had since SEC play started. They scored 106 points against Mississippi Valley State in the season opener and then 96 against Northwestern State on Dec. 29.
Against Arkansas, Will Baker scored 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field and making four 3-pointers in five tries. He's averaging 11.8 points per game and shooting 36.1% from behind the 3-point line for the season. Baker is also pulling down 4.9 rebounds each game.
The Hogs made 27 of 28 free throws against LSU. That was a positive, one which Musselman felt usually translates to a win.
"When you think about a team that goes 27 of 28 from the foul line on the road you usually don’t lose that basketball game. but we did," Musselman said. "And have to get ready for LSU. You aren’t going to win many games with an opponent shooting 42 free throws. Live ball-turnovers hurts. The best game we played all year offensively. So got to get ready for LSU."

Musselman also was asked if the loss to Kentucky is one the Hogs can build off of?
"Every coach that I’ve worked for, your job is to try and continue to improve throughout the year," Musselman said. "We did not play very well against Vanderbilt, but we were down double-digits and fought and gave ourselves a chance to put the game into overtime, although we played poor basketball in that game. We showed some life towards the end of the game.
"Again, are we making progress? Today we made progress. We played our best offense, did a great job focusing on the foul line in a very tough environment. Defensively, we weren’t that good but this team has done that to other teams, especially in their own building. We had a chance to beat a team that has a chance to win the national championship. Did we lose? Absolutely, all the credit goes to Coach (John) Calipari and Kentucky, but in that locker room that we represent, I’m extremely proud to be associated with their effort and the way they battled tonight. That’s all you can ask for from a group of young men and that’s what they went out and did tonight."
LSU enters the Arkansas game having won four of five and two in a row. That is the complete opposite of the first meeting when LSU had lost four of five prior to the Razorbacks.
Guard Jordan Wright leads LSU with 14.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. Jalen Cook, who scored 20 points against Arkansas, actually leads the team in scoring at 15.6 points per game, but has only seen action in 13 contests. Wright was one of five Tigers in double figures against Vanderbilt, a 75-61 win on Saturday, with 15 points to lead the team.
Khalif Battle enters the game having scored at least 30 points three games in a row. He had 42 in win over Missouri, 36 in loss to Vandy and 34 against Kentucky. He's the first Razorback to do that since Mason Jones in 2020. Battle averages 13.5 points per game while Tramon Mark tops the team at 17.1. Trevon Brazile averages 8.4 points per game and tops the team with 6.0 rebounds each outing.
Arkansas and LSU will tip at 6 p.m. Wednesday on the SEC Network.