The LSU mens basketball team’s 2005 series with Arkansas ended the same way it began Saturday as the final score read 65-62, but the Razorbacks won this one.
The game ended with a 3-point attempt just like the first game, in which LSU (13-8, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) defeated Arkansas 65-62 in overtime on Jan. 19 in the PMAC. There was no controversial call to be made Saturday as Tigers senior guard Antonio Hudson’s 3-pointer clanged off the rim and out of bounds.
Hudson knocked down a 3-pointer a few possessions earlier trimming the Razorbacks lead to three, 65-62.
Guard Darrel Mitchell had a chance to tie the game on a 3-pointer with about one minute remaining and missed.
LSU coach John Brady said Mitchell’s missed shot was one of many where the Tigers executed well but came up short.
“Arkansas made tougher shots than we missed,” Brady said. “Our team executed well. We came back. We had opportunities to get it to one or two. We had some really great defensive stops. That’s how you win on the road and we just weren’t able to make enough plays out of good execution and good shots to win it.”
After Mitchell’s miss the Tigers got a stop on the next possession and took a timeout with 13.1 seconds remaining before Hudson’s final attempt.
Arkansas (17-7, 5-6 SEC) went on a 10-4 run to start the second half and led 51-36 after guard Ferguson’s 3-pointer with 13:09 remaining.
“Our team made progress today,” Brady said. “We got down 14 or so today and really executed the last 10 or 12 minutes very, very good and got the ball where we needed it.”
LSU drew back within nine with a 7-1 run that included five straight points from Mitchell, but the Razorbacks led by double digits again, 55-43, as guard Ronnie Brewer scored, was fouled and made the free throw.
Brewer left the game with four fouls and 19 points at the 8:43 mark of the second half. He reentered the game but failed to score.
The Tigers chipped the deficit to 57-51 on a Mitchell layup, but a pair of Darian Townes’ free throws gave the Razorbacks a 61-52 lead.
The Razorbacks finished the first half with a 15-4 run to take a 41-32 lead at halftime. During that 4:55 span Brewer came alive, scoring 11 of his 16 first half points.
The Razorbacks also sank all six of their first-half free throws during the run and ended the game 16-of-17 behind the charity stripe.
LSU jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead as Mitchell buried a 3-pointer off the opening tip before the Razorbacks could get set on defense.
Razorbacks guard Jonathan Modica led Arkansas on a 6-0 run giving the Razorbacks a 9-7 lead at the 15:58 mark of the first half. He scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the first half.
The Razorbacks held a 13-11 lead with 14:20 remaining in the first half. But the Tigers regained the lead on forward Glen Davis’ jump hook and stretched the lead to four with a pair of Tack Minor 3-pointers. The Tigers led 20-16 at the 9:48 mark in the first half.
Arkansas regained the lead, 21-20 on Modica’s 3-pointer, but the lead changed hands six times with one tie in the next seven possessions and LSU led 29-28 as Davis hit one of his two free-throw attempts.
The Tigers hit only 5-of-11 free-throw attempts in the first half and finished the game 13-of-23 for 56.5 percent.
Sophomore forward Brandon Bass along with guard Tack Minor led the Tigers with 14 points. But Bass made only 8-of-14 free-throw attempts in the game, which deviated from his 81.8 percent season average.
“We’re disappointed that we did not win the game,” Brady said. “Hopefully this will help us going to Mississippi State on Wednesday.”