Fans of the LSU men’s basketball team felt a sense of deja vu at the PMAC on Wednesday night in the team’s second Southeastern Conference tilt of the season.
LSU opened up the conference slate Saturday, beating Auburn, 62-55, after almost giving up a 25-point lead at halftime.
Similarly, they nearly choked away an 18-point advantage Wednesday night against Arkansas, but the Tigers once again prevailed in the waning minutes to escape with a 56-53 victory.
LSU’s 2-0 SEC start matches the total number of conference wins from last season. The Tigers’ 2006 team was the last unit to win their first two conference games.
“We came out strong in the first half of our first two league games, and in the second half we come out with the same intensity, but the other teams have picked it up a notch or two,” said freshman forward Matt Derenbecker, who scored 12 points. “We’re finding a way to hold on, and that is all that matters.”
Two junior forwards came up big in the paint for LSU, giving the Tigers a 46-32 rebounding advantage. Malcolm White and Garrett Green were impressive down low, scoring 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Green played a career-high 34 minutes, dunking the ball three times and adding 10 rebounds.
“You’re just caught up in the emotions of the game,” Green said. “You’re just playing hard and you don’t really think about how long you’re playing.”
LSU was stuck at the 48-point mark for six minutes before a free throw by White got the Tigers back on the board and increased their lead to four points with 2:49 remaining. Arkansas fouled heavily the rest of the game, and LSU made enough free throws to clinch the victory.
“In the second half, like most good teams they made a run at us,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “That’s going to happen throughout the year, and I thought we kept our poise.”
The win came without LSU’s leading scorer, freshman guard Ralston Turner, who is out with a stress reaction of the right foot. Junior forward Storm Warren saw his playing time reduced due to tendonitis in the right achilles, only playing 11 minutes.
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Contact Michael Lambert at [email protected]