Another road game, another loss as the LSU men’s basketball team drops its fifth consecutive road contest — and second in three days — to Arkansas 81-70 in Fayetteville, Ark., Saturday night.
The Tigers (15-9) were able to keep the game close for a short span after halftime, but a flurry of Razorback (16-9) threes put the game out of reach.
“(Arkansas) hit some timely shots,” said LSU coach Johnny Jones on his post-game radio show. “ They made some big shots down the stretch and most notably the three pointers.”
The Hogs hit 10-17 from beyond the arc as LSU’s zone defense struggled to defend the perimeter. Arkansas finished the night with four players cracking double-digit point totals in the game, including guard Rashad Madden who posted 21 points of his own.
LSU had to dip into its reserves early on as the freshman duo of Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey spent most of the night in foul trouble, preventing either from getting into a rhythm on the court.
Mickey was able to string together 10 rebounds in Saturday’s conference matchup, but both players finished with just eight points each.
LSU junior forward Johnny O’Bryant III led the Tigers with one of his best performances of the season, scoring 20 points and a career high 16 rebounds despite fouling out with a little more than a minute left in the game. The double-double is the 23rd of his career.
“I thought he did a great job of playing with fouls tonight,” Jones said. “I thought he remained really aggressive and remained that way throughout.”
O’Bryant also became the 40th player in LSU history to join the 1,000-point club after a second-half layup gave him the 10 points needed to surpass the milestone going into the game.
The Mississippi native is the second player on the 2014 roster to break the mark, with senior guard Andre Stringer topping 1,000 career points earlier this season.
Stringer was also the only other Tiger to score double-digit points Saturday night, throwing up 13 points against Arkansas.
“I thought our guys grew up,” Jones said. “I thought they improved. I thought we got better today in one of the tougher environments in college basketball.”
The only aspect of the game where LSU could gain any traction was on the boards where the Tigers out rebounded Arkansas 46-36, including 16 on the offensive end to the Razorbacks’ seven.
Jones said he was pleased with the way his team got after the ball under its own ne, but not being able to finish on some of those second chances is what inevitably led to a defeat.
The Tigers will come home next week for a game against Mississippi State on Wednesday in the PMAC where LSU hasn’t lost since a Jan. 4 meeting with Rhode Island.