LSU basketball lifted a huge monkey off its back Saturday night, winning its first road game in over a year with a 94-88 overtime win at Arkansas.
Coach Will Wade said turning the ball over 16 times would not result in a win for the young Tiger team, but he didn’t say anything about 19 turnovers. For the third time this year, LSU lost a second half double digit lead, but it was the first time it was able to keep its composure with a great overtime performance.
The Razorbacks went on a 12-0 run to tie the game with five minutes to go in the second half due to 10 second half turnovers from LSU. The Tigers were in need of a run and found themselves short-handed when senior Kavell Bigby-Williams fouled out with 5:38 to go and freshman Darius Days went down with a leg injury.
To add insult to injury, the crowd at Bud Walton Arena got into the game with a ferocious dunk by Daniel Gafford, who had 10 second half points and a career-high 32 for the game.
With the game tied at 81 and heading to overtime, the story was becoming all too familiar for LSU. But the lessons the Tigers learned against Florida State and Houston proved well-learned against the Razorbacks.
In overtime, freshmen Ja’vonte Smart and Naz Reid drilled back-to-back threes that gave the Tigers a 87-83 lead with 3:19 to go. LSU continued to have no answers for Gafford who scored the first four points of overtime for Arkansas.
Up three with 1:30 to go, Skylar Mays, who scored 15 points, put a dagger in the game with a layup that also drew a foul, extending the lead to six. On the other end Reid would draw his third charge of the game that put the game away.
The big matchup heading into the contest was how the Tigers were going to neutralize the Razorback big man Gafford. LSU started with Bigby-Williams in some one-on-one post matchups with Gafford and the senior held his own in the opening minutes. The game plan was not to double team Gafford all that much as it takes away an extra defender on the perimeter.
Because the Tigers decided not to double Gafford, the outside shooting tandem of Isaiah Joe and Mason Jones, who both averaged over 14 points per game each, were limited to 25 points total for the game. Of those 25 points, 22 came from Jones.
LSU was able to win the glass with 36 total rebounds to the Razorbacks 31. The Tigers simultaneously kept Gafford from controlling the glass, but couldn't hold the future first rounder from scoring at will.
Gafford was able to show off his post moves with Bigby-Williams and freshman Naz Reid in foul trouble all night, scoring 16 points in the first half and finishing with 32 for the game.
The Tigers jumped out to a 14-9 lead after a hot start from sophomore point guard Tremont Waters. Waters delivered seven points, three assists and two steals in the first five minutes of the game including a full court pass to Reid who finished with a reverse slam at the other end.
Waters nearly had a double-double in the first half with 11 points and eight assists and continued his stellar play in the second half with 17 points and 11 assists for the game.
Reid, who had been struggling to consistently put the ball in the hole, accounted for the other seven of the 14 early points. Reid was having a great first half, scoring 10 points, but foul trouble continually hampered him. Despite the foul trouble, Reid scored 27 points on 12 shots and added seven rebounds.
The freshman forward played with a ton of energy, drawing charges and knocking down shots at a high clip right from the start and put together arguably his best performance of the season.
LSU shot 60 percent from the field in the first half including 6-of-12 from 3-point land, capped off by a buzzer beater Marlon Taylor three that gave the Tigers a 50-42 advantage at the break. Taylor was phenomenal all night, scoring 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting with seven rebounds.
An 11-6 run on 5-of-6 shooting to start the second half for LSU turned the eight point halftime lead to 13 with the continued tough play from Reid. With Bigby-Williams, Reid and freshman forward Darius Days all having three fouls with 14 minutes to go, the non-stop hustle from Emmitt Williams and Taylor showed its full colors.
Offensive rebounds became a large part of the Tigers second half offensive success with nobody crashing the glass harder than Williams and Taylor. Williams and Taylor both grabbed two a piece, leading to seven second chance points with Bigby-Williams and Reid on the bench.