An 18-point second half comeback wasn’t enough for the Tigers to pull through as the Razorbacks won a late thriller 90-89, giving LSU it’s first SEC loss of the season.
The win by the Razorbacks also ends an 18 game home win streak that, heading into the evening, was tied for the second longest streak in the country.
Leading 89-88 with 36 seconds left and the ball in Tremont Waters’ hands, the sophomore point guard made a questionable decision, electing to go for the alley-oop to Marlon Taylor that sailed over the junior’s head and out-of-bounds. On the ensuing Arkansas possession, Mason Jones made a jumper in the paint that put the Razorbacks up one.
“At the end of the game, we want the ball in Tremont’s hands,” Skylar Mays said after the game. “We want him to make plays for us because we know we’re going to win that way.”
“I probably should’ve called a timeout there to run a set play,” Wade said. “Nine times out of 10 Tremont’s going to make great plays so we trust him, he’s our guy.”
Electing not to take a timeout, Wade let his young team run the show but three missed shots including a prayer at the end by Naz Reid at the buzzer fell short, stunning the PMAC crowd.
After the first missed layup by Reid on the final possession, Wade was hesitant to call a timeout in hopes that the Arkansas defense would be a little helter-skelter. Instead the Razorbacks crashed the paint forcing a missed layup from Smart and ultimately a last second heave from Reid.
“We got a couple of clean looks there at the end we just couldn’t knock them down,” Wade said. “We’ve been walking a tightrope for about two weeks and we fell off today. I’d like to thank our fans though for coming out. I thought they almost willed us to win there at the end. It was the loudest I’ve heard it since being here.”
When LSU chances seemed bleak, rebounding and the free throw line kept the Tigers afloat. LSU went 32-for-38 at the free throw line while out-rebounding Arkansas 44-20, 19 of those coming on the offensive end.
Wade was not happy as he stormed to the LSU locker room at halftime with his team trailing 45-41 and allowing Arkansas to shoot 63 percent from the field in the first half. For five minutes of the second half, those emotions didn’t change.
Trailing 66-48 with 14:44 to go, LSU scrapped and clawed its way back into the game by knocking down free throws and converting on buckets at the basket. With one 11-2 run late in the game, the Tigers had found themselves down just two points with under five minutes to play.
LSU relied on clutch play after clutch play from freshman guard Javonte Smart, who scored 18 points, as well as Reid, who posted a 19 point, 10 rebound effort.
“I knew rebounding was going to be a big part of tonight,” Reid said. “Using my size to get good looks in the paint was something I was able to do as the second half wore on.”
After dropping a season-high 32 points on LSU in Fayetteville, the key for the Tigers was to find a way to stop big man Daniel Gafford from controlling the paint. While the purple and gold fared on better on Gafford, 23 points and eight rebounds, Arkansas was making LSU pay from the 3-point line as well. In the first meeting, Arkansas shot 3-for-16 from beyond the arc but Saturday was a different story entirely.
The Razorbacks used the 3-point line to their advantage, shooting 13-for-24 from beyond the arc while also shooting 58 percent from the field. Even as LSU made its comeback attempt late, Arkansas was able to answer some of the runs with 3-pointers to keep it a double-digit lead for most of the half.
LSU will now gear up for a Wednesday matchup in Starkville when they travel to meet No. 22 Mississippi State at 8 p.m.
