Trendon Watford had watched a pair of potential go-ahead baskets in the final minutes narrowly miss their mark.

But with LSU again trailing by one point with 35 seconds and then 12 seconds remaining, the freshman forward headed aggressively back into the lane — not once, but twice — for three-point plays to help lift the Tigers past Arkansas, 79-77.

"For Trendon to miss the dunk and miss the bunny a couple minutes before that, that both of them would've given us the lead," coach Will Wade said. "For him to be able to do that and then be able to come back and make those winning plays, and then have the poise to knock down the free throw after the big plays, I think is tremendous. I'm very, very proud of him."

Watford finished with a team-high 21 points — a career high thus far — and nine rebounds to lead a dominant performance on the boards.

LSU (10-4, 2-0) more than doubled the Razorbacks (12-2, 1-1) with 53 rebounds to its guests' 24 for its largest rebounding advantage in an SEC game since Feb. 10, 1993.

The Tigers nearly matched the Arkansas total with their 23 offensive rebounds alone, en route to a 26-0 edge in second-chance points.

And Watford was just grateful for the chance to play closer.

"Coach Wade drew up a few plays for me coming out of bands, and he just trusted in me to do what I do every day," the 6-foot-9 standout said. "So I've gotta thank him and thank my teammates for putting me in position for it."

Chimed in senior guard Skylar Mays: "He's special, man. He's just been playing great. As we've been going along, he's really turned the corner."

Watford was among the Tigers' leaders Saturday with 15 points and eight rebounds at Tennessee to open SEC play with a road victory.

The freshman followed with an even bigger performance as they played before a home crowd at Pete Maravich Assembly Center for the first time in nearly two weeks.

"I thought he made some great plays," said Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman, a former LSU assistant under Johnny Jones. "Defensively we wanted to try to attack his lateral foot speed, but I thought he did a great job scoring the basketball. And for a freshman, he's got a great body. He's strong. He used his left hand tonight really well. Tremendous player, there's no question."

The late free throws improved Watford to 7-for-8 on the evening and 12-for-14 in two conference games.

"Me and coach Wade get together after every practice and shoot 50 free throws," he said. "I've got to end with going 9-out-of-10, so a lot of pressure is built on me just in practice every day. So I've definitely got to thank him for just working with me. I wasn't shooting good earlier in the year, so he's definitely worked with me, and it's paying off."

Arkansas managed to match the first of his two clutch moments with a three-point play of its own.

With the Razorbacks trailing 76-74, sophomore guard Isaiah Joe drove his way toward the goal for a score and a foul to move back ahead.

Musselman couldn't remember another game ending in three consecutive three-point plays in his 30-year coaching career at the college and professional levels.

Said Wade: "Not that I can remember, but we'll take it. I'm glad we had two of 'em."

Watford's reprisal, this time driving from 40 feet out, would not be answered.

Charles Manning Jr. made sure of that.

The junior guard covered Joe his entire way up the court in the final seconds and rose in unison to block a potential game-winning 3-pointer with three seconds remaining.

Arkansas sophomore guard Desi Sills rushed to gather the loose ball.

But Manning and LSU sophomore guard Javonte Smart quickly smothered him and denied anything close to a clean look as time expired.

"That's what's great about this team," Mays said. "We've got a bunch of selfless guys, and that was probably the play of the game. So for Charles to make that play after not really getting his touches and scoring a lot really says a lot to who he is."

Mays finished with 19 points and four rebounds.

And sophomore forward Darius Days scored 16 points and grabbed 16 boards.

No LSU player had tallied more than 12 rebounds in a game thus far this year.

And Days' nine offensive rebounds — three times the Razorbacks' team total — also matched former Tigers standouts Jordan Mickey and Malcolm White for the most in at least a decade.

"Coach Wade preached in practice, 'Stay on the glass, stay on the glass, stay on the glass,'" he said. "And I just was very aggressive to the glass , and my teammates were aggressive as well. It's very simple. We just stayed on the glass and did what we were supposed to."

The teams tested each other primarily from the perimeter early.

Eleven of the game's first 17 shots came from beyond the 3-point arc, with another on the line.

The Razorbacks' hot-shooting from deep, while LSU struggled, helped overcome their other shortcomings to take a 40-37 lead into halftime.

Arkansas made five of its first 11 attempts from range.

And when the Tigers committed three turnovers in a span of 87 seconds, their guests quickly took advantage with a 12-0 run to turn a 24-23 deficit into a 35-24 lead.

"Part of what happened in the first half, I got so mad at our team because we've been practicing so well I thought we were gonna play great tonight," Wade said. "And we came out kind of lethargic, and we didn't have what I thought we were going to have. So I kind of tore into everybody, and our team got a little discombobulated after I tore into everybody.

"So I had to calm myself down and calm the team down. I kind of contributed to them going on the run. And I got a little upset because I felt like we had practiced a lot better than we played. I thought we were gonna play really, really well, which we did in the second half."

But LSU responded with a more aggressive 9-2 spurt to end the half.

Days finally hit a pair of 3's to improve the Tigers from 1-for-7 to 3-for-9 from beyond the arc, then drew a personal foul from Arkansas forward Reggie Chaney on the offense glass.

After the whistle, the Razorbacks' sophomore big man swatted the basketball out of bounds and into the media tables to compound his frustration with a technical for his fourth foul.

"We picked up a technical foul in a two-point game," Musselman said. "Every little thing matters."

LSU landed the first run of the second half with a quick 8-2 push that drew a timeout from Musselman.

But another trio of turnovers in just 82 seconds allowed its guests to draw back even at 58-58.

The teams traded baskets and a couple leads from there.

LSU scored six straight.

Arkansas answered with a 9-3 run.

But in the final minute, Watford and company found the final play on each end to seal a second straight victory to open conference.

"Obviously a critical win," Wade said. "I thought our crowd was great, especially down the stretch. I appreciate everybody that came and look forward to having the students back on Saturday. I thought the crowd helped us big-time. They're a very good team. It's a huge, huge win for us — a Quad-One win — and they're gonna be a team that is gonna be in the SEC race."

Junior guard Mason Jones led Arkansas with 24 points, including 4-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc, five rebounds and four assists.

Senior guard Jimmy Whitt Jr. provided 22 points, and Joe added 13 points and five rebounds.

"I thought we played, again, phenomenal 3-point defense," Musselman said. "I thought we took care of the basketball. LSU's a high steal team. They had one steal all game. I thought we took care of the basketball.

"They've got size, and they utilized it tonight on the backboards. I mean, their best offense was putting it up and going getting it."