Coming off a dominant win over Missouri, LSU looks to take that momentum into a tough road matchup against No. 14 Arkansas. LSU lost to Arkansas in the first matchup between these two teams and will look to avenge that loss when it travels to Fayetteville for the rematch. Leading up to the game I had the chance to talk to Mason Choate of The Arkansas Traveler who serves as Sports Editor and cover’s men’s basketball. With that said, here is the conversation I had with Mason, and what he had to say about this Arkansas team.
Rauterkus: Bud Walton Arena seems to be one of the best atmospheres in college basketball right now. What has it been like over there and what kind of impact has that had?
Choate: Yeah, it’d be hard to convince me that there’s a better atmosphere in the nation right now. It goes to a different level when Arkansas is winning and winning at a high level. And you look at the past three games and they’d beat No. 1 Auburn, I think it was No. 18, Tennessee and No. 6 Kentucky. Every single one of those games was sold out, packed to the brim. It felt like after the Auburn game you couldn’t replicate that, but I think the Kentucky game probably did that. And a lot of people have been saying for the Kentucky game, well, this is Arkansas’ Super Bowl. I don’t think it was Arkansas’ Super Bowl, I think people know that this team is really good and they know that they’re capable of beating anybody. That’s why they show up.
Rauterkus: Looking back at the first time these two teams played, it feels like Arkansas and LSU have swapped places. How has Arkansas grown as a team since then?
Choate: I look back at that LSU game, and I think that’s the game where Arkansas turned it around, because going into that, they were on a really bad stretch. And going into the LSU game, I didn’t think they were going to win. And most people did not think that Arkansas was going to win that game. And they go down there and they win and it kind of felt like a fluke from the Arkansas perspective. But then they went on a run where they won nine straight, and now they’re on a run where they won I think it’s 13 the last 14. But that game you look back at it, that might have been where they turned it around. The team decided to just band together and they just flipped the switch and it’s been a completely different team since then and it feels like LSU has been the exact opposite.
Rauterkus: Eric Musselman feels like one of the most energetic coaches in college basketball right now. What kind of impact has he had on the program and fan base since he has arrived?
Choate: So prior to Musselman, it was a different environment. The way that he markets the team, he sells it to the students and he sells it to the fans. They sold out all their season tickets this year and all the students show up. They do so much promotion, so much social media, and he just seems to be a genius with that stuff. Like he’s a basketball genius, but he’s also a marketing genius. And there’s something to be said about that because when you’re packing the arena, that creates points, that creates momentum. I look back to the Auburn game and I was telling people before that game, this crowd is going to give Arkansas five to ten points. Sure enough, they won by four points. And you look back at it, Auburn left a lot of points at the free throw line. And that was mainly because it was so deafeningly loud that I don’t know how anybody can shoot free throws.
Rauterkus: JD Notae has become the star for this Arkansas team. What kind of jump has he made from last season to this season to become this kind of player
Choate: Yeah, I looked back and I remember when JD Notae first transferred to Arkansas, he had to sit out a year and we were always hearing about this guy named Notae in practice and how he was just dominating in practice and he was one of the best players on the team. But we couldn’t see him because he was having to sit out for his redshirt year. And you’re right, last year he was overshadowed. But still, he was sixth man of the year and when he came in, the offense ran through him. So you look at this year and you knew that he was going to be a starter. He wasn’t going to be a six man again. It’s just a completely different team when JD Notae is out on the court. He is an incredible playmaker. He can make something out of nothing.
Rauterkus: Another player for Arkansas who doesn’t get talked about nearly enough is Jaylin Williams. Just how valuable is he to this Arkansas team?
Choate: Williams has gone from a role player last year to undoubtedly the leader of this team. He is the vocal leader and you watch him on the court yelling at guys, telling them to go here and there and then they talk about him in practice all the time how he’s just a leader on the team and not only is he a leader but he backs it up with his play. He’s just taking a big step up in his game. I watched him in high school and he dominated in the state of Arkansas in high school and last year we saw signs of it like he is not afraid to go up against any big man, not just in the SEC but in the country. And you watched him do it this year and he’s proven his worth for Arkansas and proven his worth to NBA scouts.
Rauterkus: one thing that jumps out about Arkansas is the toughness on defense. Is that just a part of Musselman’s philosophy?
Choate: He does an incredible job of scouting opposing offenses, and they go at the guy who’s the best scorer on the opposing team. If you limit a team’s best scorer, then that really hurts them. So he does a great job of that. And then the whole reason that they’ve been so successful recently as they changed the line up about 15-16 games ago to go for a really physical, bigger line up. And this team is not afraid to play physical. They went through a stretch there where it was like eight or nine games in a row that they held opponents to less than 40% from the field, and that’s just incredible. They get in your face, they make it so difficult for you to find anything open. And really they’ve completely flipped the script from earlier in the year because it just felt like every single time an opposing team was down on offense, there were two or three guys with wide open shots. That does not happen anymore and if it does, it’s because that’s part of the plan, they’re leaving someone open because they know that they’re not going to make it.
Score Predictions
Choate: I’d have to probably go 68, Arkansas 58, LSU. And the reason I say that is because like we’ve talked about, it’s going to be at Bud Walton. So you know, the atmosphere is going to be great. I think Arkansas plays a very high level defensively, I mean they’re going to limit LSU. So I don’t see LSU scoring a whole lot of points, but also I don’t know. Arkansas has had some games here and there, I think back to the Tennessee game, it was hard for them to score against Tennessee. I feel like LSU is a team with a lot of talent there. So I think LSU is going to give Arkansas a run for their money, but the Hogs will probably win it at the free throw line.
Arkansas 68-58 LSU
Rauterkus: I agree I think Arkansas wins this game but I think it ends up being a very close, intense game. I think LSU will hang around for a while but I think Arkansas will pull away late and I do think that the home crowd will have a lot to do with that.
Arkansas 65-60 LSU
