Heading into LSU’s Wednesday night SEC opener vs. No. 9 Arkansas in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, senior guard Trae Hannibal had played in 92 college basketball games.

That's 46 games in two seasons for his home state South Carolina Gamecocks, then he transferred to Murray State last year where he played in 34 games and then followed MSU head coach Matt McMahon to LSU this season where he had played in all of the first 12 games.

In his 92 career games, 93.5 percent of his made field goals and 90.6 of his field goal attempts came from two-point range.

There’s no breakdown on how many of those buckets were drives to the basket into the grills of rim-protecting shot swatters.

But that is undeniably and proudly Hannibal’s M.O. Penetrate, don't hesitate. Levitate, don't be late. Get the ball in the basket. Wash, rinse and repeat until the defense is shaken, not stirred.

“My main thing is just never let someone stop me from getting where I want to go,” Hannibal said after he scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in the Tigers’ 60-57 upset of the Razorbacks. “And, you know, staying consistent with that.”

On a night where defenses ruled and uncontested shots were not to be found, McMahon had the good sense to put the ball in Hannibal’s hands in the final three minutes and turn loose his attack dog.

The 6-2, 215-pound Hannibal scored six of LSU’s final 11 points including back-to-back plunging daggers through the heart of the Arkansas defense with 1:12 and 32 seconds left. It was enough to get the Tigers in position for victory lane where sophomore guard Adam Miller hit two free throws with 1.2 seconds left for the final margin of victory.

Hannibal and Mississippi State transfer junior forward Derek Fountain, (14 points and 10 rebounds) -- two LSU newbies with a combined 90 games of SEC experience -- got the Tigers (12-1 overall, 1-0 in the SEC) over the rough spots in an aesthetically unpleasant game.

“Obviously, it wasn't an offensive masterpiece for anybody,” said McMahon, referring to sub 30 percent field goal shooting for both teams in the first half when LSU led 24-19 at the break. “It was a high-level game if you like defense and just physical basketball.”

The Tigers, who hadn’t previously this season faced any team remotely close to Arkansas’ roster full of long five-star athletes, could have just as easily suffered a fourth straight loss to the Razorbacks.

LSU senior forward KJ Williams, who entered the night as the SEC’s leading scorer averaging 19.3 points, battled foul trouble and a smothering Arkansas defense. He finished with just 8 points, his second lowest offensive output of the season.

Juice Hill, Cam Hayes and Miller – LSU’s starting guard trio – was outscored 36-13 by Arkansas starting guards Davonte Davis (16 points), Ricky Council IV (13 points) and Anthony Black (7 points).

The Tigers made just 6 of 12 free throws including 4 of 5 from Fountain and Miller’s two victory-clinching swishes.

The Razorbacks came into their first true road game averaging scoring 23.5 points off 18.75 turnovers per game. Also, Arkansas (11-2 overall, 0-1 in SEC) was leading the league in free throw attempts (23.2) and free throws made (16.8).

Yet, LSU found a path to the victory. It outscored Arkansas 13 to 4 in points off turnovers, limited the Hogs to 5 of 10 free throw accuracy and blanked the Razorbacks 25-0 in bench points thanks to Hannibal’s colossal 22½ minutes playing time..

It started with LSU’s defense which held Arkansas to 36.9 percent from the field (24 of 65) including 16 percent (4 of 25) 3-point accuracy. The Hogs missed all 13 of their first-half 3-point attempts.

“We have always been preaching ‘stay locked’ (defensively),” Fountain said. “We have probably said ‘stay locked’ over a hundred times tonight in the huddles and the timeouts. All we were trying to say was stay focused, stay locked and that’s what happened. The team fed off it.”

LSU opened the game missing its first 10 of 11 shots and its last 7 of 9 in the first half. The biggest reason why the Tigers only led by 5 points at the half was their 29.4 percent (10 of 34) field goal shooting lowlighted by missing 9 of 16 layups.

In the second half when LSU shot 53.6 percent from the field (15 of 28), it made 14 of 26 layups including 6 of 6 by Hannibal.

“We were able to eliminate some of those runners and floaters that were taken in the first half and get all the way to the rim and finish plays,” McMahon said.

Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman gave a tip of his coaching hat to Hannibal.

“I don’t know if we could do, or if anybody could do a much better job than the way we defended KJ Williams and Adam Miller,” Musselman said. “The other three defenders have got to be able to keep Hannibal in front. I thought his attacking relentlessly to the basket, physicality contact, finishing was phenomenal.”

Next for LSU is a trip next Tuesday night for a 7 p.m tip at No. 19 Kentucky. The Wildcats (8-4, 0-1 SEC) lost their Wednesday SEC opener, getting crushed 89-75 at Missouri. Mizzou (12-1, 1-0 SEC) has a date next Wednesday at Arkansas.

“We're such a work in progress,” McMahon said. “We're just trying to get better every day, every practice, every game. But obviously the goal is to win while doing it. I hope it's something we can continue to build on.”