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Arkansas got the ball in the hands of its best offensive player, Ricky Council IV, in the final seconds against the Tigers, and he had a chance to win it for the Razorbacks in a one-point game in Wednesday night’s SEC opener.
But Council turned it over in the paint with two seconds to play as LSU took over. After some clutch free throws from Adam Miller and a halfcourt buzzer-beater shot that was a little bit too close for comfort, the Tigers eked out a 60-57 upset win over the No. 9 Hogs at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
It was a disastrous start offensively for LSU (12-1, 1-0 SEC) in this game. It made just one of its first 11 shots, and that didn’t get much better in the first frame. The team shot just 29.4% in the first half, but Arkansas (11-2, 0-1 SEC) was even worse at just 27.3%. The Tigers led by five points as they went into the locker room at halftime.
But Arkansas stormed out of the gates in the second half. It made six of its first eight shots to start the half, and that kickstarted an impressive effort in which the Razorbacks scored twice as many points in the second half (38) as they did in the first (19).
Davonte Davis (16), Council (13) and Jordan Walsh (13) all scored in double figures for the Hogs.
LSU was even better offensively, however. It shot above 50% in the second half as a team with big games from Trae Hannibal, who led the team with 19 points, and Derek Fountain, who scored 14. They made up for an off night offensively from leading scorer KJ Williams, who finished with just eight points and five rebounds.
In a game that featured seven lead changes and 10 ties, LSU prevailed to earn its first Quadrant 1 game of the season against an Arkansas team that entered with a No. 10 ranking in the NET.
The road doesn’t get a lot easier for LSU, as coach Matt McMahon’s team will hit the road to take on a Kentucky squad that currently ranks in the top 25 but lost on the road to Missouri to open SEC play.
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Story originally appeared on LSU Tigers Wire