In LSU’s Jan. 22 loss at Arkansas, forward Ronald Dupree could not seem to get on track, scoring 12 points on 6-of-17 shooting and only grabbing five rebounds.
Saturday night’s rematch in the PMAC was a different story.
The Razorbacks had no answer for Dupree as the senior forward torched Arkansas for 25 points and 13 rebounds as LSU cruised to a 75-56 win in front of 6,167 fans.
After a week without a midweek game, LSU (15-9, 4-8 Southeastern Conference) opened the game on a 11-0 run and led 24-2 at the 11:53 mark in the first half before building a crushing 49-19 halftime lead.
“I was proud of our team,” said LSU coach John Brady. “I thought defensively, it was as good a first half as we’ve seen in a while. I think from that standpoint, the way we guarded them and the way we defended them led to us having some good offense off our defense.”
LSU held Arkansas (7-16, 2-10) to 6-of-32 shooting in the first half, while the Tigers shot 16-of-29 from the field and 15-of-17 from the free-throw line in the first half.
Dupree scored 14 of his 25 points in the first half and finished the game shooting 7-of-13, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range, and he also hit 9-of-9 from the free-throw line.
“I was kind of quiet before the game, really focused,” Dupree said. “I just came out active on the defensive end. I got a couple of buckets. I was able to get some dunks and get the crowd into it. When I’m playing like that, it just feeds into the team. I was just on a roll.”
Brady said Dupree played “flawlessly,” as the 6-foot-7 senior notched a season high in points and rebounds, mixing a variety of slashes to the basket on the dribble drive with a soft outside touch. On the defensive end, Dupree more than held his own as well.
Senior guard Torris Bright, who was the only other LSU player in double-digit scoring with 10 points, said Dupree makes an impact every minute he is on the court.
“Ronald came ready to play,” Bright said. “I thought Ronald was very focused for this game. I can tell when he’s on the court.”
LSU built up a 37-point lead in the second half, and Arkansas cut into the lead once Brady cleared the bench in the final minutes to give other Tigers some playing time.
“In the second half, we didn’t play as well, but we substituted a little too freely at the end,” Brady said. “We wanted to give everybody a chance, and the game broke down a little bit. For 30 minutes of the game we totally dominated that team, and I was really proud of our guys for the way they played.”
The Tigers finished the game 25-of-52 from the field, including 4-of-10 from the 3-point line, and 21-of-25 from the free-throw line.
Arkansas finished 21-of-65 from the floor, including 6-of-22 from 3-point range, and 8-of-19 from the free-throw line.
In the last meeting between the two teams, Arkansas outrebounded the Tigers, 44-22, but the Razorbacks only outrebounded the Tigers on Saturday, 42-38.
“I think we should not have lost against Arkansas [in the first meeting],” Bright said. “I think this team is starting to gain momentum, starting to connect real well. We are just going to take it a game at a time and look forward to Auburn.”