The Tigers lost their fourth game in its past five Wednesday night when they lost to Arkansas, 87-61, in Fayetteville.
The 26-point deficit was tied the Tigers’ (9-16, 2-9) worst loss of the season.
The Tigers stayed close in the early going, and the game featured several lead changes early. LSU tied the score at 14 before a 21-0 Arkansas run put the game well out of reach for the Tigers.
“They got going pretty early, and during that stretch where they scored those baskets, I thought we had that little stare on our face,” said interim head coach Butch Pierre in a postgame interview on the LSU Sports Radio Network.
Arkansas’ hot shooting was the main factor in its success.
The Razorbacks (18-7, 7-4) shot 9-of-13 from behind the arc in the first half and took a 23-point lead into halftime. Arkansas shot 47 percent from behind the 3-point line for the game while the Tigers shot 4-of-14.
The Razorbacks’ 11 3-pointers were a season high, besting their previous high of 10 – a mark reached in the teams’ first meeting of the season.
The second half featured more of the same dominating performance from the Razorbacks as they stayed in control for most of the second half, leading by as many as 28. They were also able to keep LSU from getting no closer than 21 points.
Defense was also a strong suit for the Razorbacks. Arkansas forced 14 LSU turnovers in the first half and scored 29 points off those miscues.
Arkansas shot 33-for-63 from the floor in the game while LSU shot only hit 36 percent of its shots.
“When you shoot the ball like that, particularly at home, it’s tough to overcome,” Pierre said.
Senior guard Gary Ervin led Arkansas with 17 points. He added six rebounds in his 25 minutes of play.
Sophomore guard Patrick Beverly led all players with nine rebounds to go along with his nine points.
LSU junior guard Terry Martin lead all scorers with 18 points in 30 minutes of play. Reigning SEC freshman of the week forward Anthony Randolph added 16 points and seven rebounds in the losing effort.
LSU was hurt by the absence of its leading scorer junior guard Marcus Thornton.
Thornton, who suffered a hip injury in Monday’s practice, played only four minutes in the contest and scored two points. He did not play the entire second half.
Thornton averages 19 points a contest and entered the game second in the conference in scoring.
“If those 18 points showed up in the stat sheet the game maybe would’ve been different,” Pierre said. “We’re not going to make any excuses. Hopefully in the next couple of days Marcus gets better and will be ready for Ole Miss.”
The Tigers face the Rebels on Saturday in the PMAC.
—-Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]