BATON ROUGE — For the second time at home this month in a Southeastern Conference game, the LSU Tigers struggled offensively from the field shooting under 30 percent while the Arkansas Razorbacks were burying the Tigers from outside the three-point arc with a 68-52 win over LSU Saturday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Sonny Weems had 21 points, including five 3-pointers, and Patrick Beverly had 14 points and 15 rebounds as Arkansas moved into solo second place in the Western Division with a 3-2 mark, two games behind 5-0 Mississippi State. Arkansas is 14-5 overall.
Beverley, who had a total of 20 points in the last three Razorbacks games, made four field goals, all 3-pointers. Gary Ervin had 10 points and five assists for the Razorbacks.
Marcus Thornton had his fourth consecutive 20-point game, with 20 points. It is the longest present streak of 20-point games in the league. Anthony Randolph added 14 points and Alex Farrer 11 as LSU fell to 7-12 and 0-5 in the league. It is the first time LSU has been 0-5 in conference play since 1972.
LSU hit only 29 percent of its field goal attempts and just 5-of-26 (19.2 percent) from the arc.
The Tigers led briefly. But Weems’ first 3-pointers put the Razorbacks ahead, 6-5, and started a 12-0 run which Beverley completed with another 3-point shot.
After a basket by Randolph, a field goal by Weems put Arkansas ahead 17-7. The Razorbacks led by at least 10 points for the rest of the half, which ended 39-22.
Thornton scored eight points in a 12-3 surge as the second half opened, but Arkansas stopped it with the score 42-34.
A 3-pointer by Beverley, two free throws by Steven Hill and a basket by Darian Townes put them ahead 51-38. LSU never got closer than 10 points after that.
Arkansas shot just 23-of-53 from the field (43.4 percent), but buried the Tigers with 10-of-15 shooting from the arc (66.7 percent). The Razorbacks out rebounded the Tigers, 42-37.
LSU travels to Auburn Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. contest before going to Alabama next Saturday for a 2 p.m. game televised by Raycom Sports.
LSU HEAD COACH JOHN BRADY QUOTES
Opening Statement
“First of all, that was some good support for our team, and our players mentioned it in the locker room. I appreciate that. I think the people that were here were really positive and supportive of our team. I appreciate that a lot, and I know the players do. That’s really what it is for, and they mentioned that in the locker room after the game. That (support) helps them keep playing.
“I see the box score, and Arkansas scores 29 (in the second half) and we gave them six free throws at the end. Basically, we held that team to 23 in the second half. We get 19 offensive rebounds. We only turn the ball over 12 times. We were more aggressive defensively in the second half. We tried to rebound the ball. From a defensive standpoint and an effort standpoint, it was good enough to put ourselves in a position to win the game. On the other end, I thought we got some shots in the second half. I thought we had some opportunities to get it lower than eight. It becomes glaring when you can’t make baskets. Sometimes our offensive execution because of our inability to make shots that we need to make becomes glaring to me.
“We don’t set the right screen at the right time. We had two or three opportunities around the goal. We brought Anthony (Randolph) off a stagger screen for about a 14-footer, and we had a couple other chances. We held them to 34 percent shooting in the second half. That’s good enough. The stats of effort are good. Our team played. We just need to somehow get in a position to manufacture points better. Looking down the line, Terry Martin was 1-9 (shooting), Bo Spencer was 0-5 and had three or four open looks, Garrett (Temple) was 1-6 and Randolph was 5-16. He probably shot a couple early, but I didn’t think they were terrible shots. Marcus (Thornton) was 7-20, but for our team to win games we need to shoot a better percentage than that.
“I think our team fought hard. Defensively, it was good enough, particularly in the second half. From a rebounding standpoint I like what we did. We seem to be a little more physical and aggressive around the goal. We just need to manufacture some shots and put them in the goal.”
On if he told his team to be more aggressive in the second half …
“I don’t know why we weren’t as aggressive to start the game. On the other hand, (Arkansas F) Sonny Weems made some baskets over us. In the first half he had 19 (points). He had two (points) in the second half. I know they tried to get him the ball more, but we did a better job. I challenged the team to be more aggressive defensively because I knew we weren’t going to just outscore anyone now, so the only chance we have is to rebound and guard. We did that, and we did enough to get ourselves back in the game.
“What is a consistent theme with our team is we don’t seem to be able to make the right shot and play at the right time. We don’t seem to be able to do that. We just need to do a better job and somehow encourage them. We moved to a different offense in the second half that we hadn’t spent much time in. We were trying to get some screens for Marcus. They (Arkansas) switched it, which is a good move, and we have to have some counters for that. We’ll just have to come up with something to see if we can make the offense as simple as possible for this team. Hopefully, simplifying it will make them relax and play a little bit. We have tried to simplify a lot of things, but maybe we need to make it simpler as we move along.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On the crowd for tonight’s game…
“We enjoy that kind of support. It helps us on the court. We still have 11 more SEC games, including five at home. We hope they keep supporting us because Marcus (Thornton) and I were talking about it and we have a gut feeling that this thing is going to turn around for us. I just want to thank the crowd for coming out. It got real loud in there. When it gets loud, that can help us out a lot. If we get some more people in there it will help us a lot having that sixth man.”
On how anxious the team is to get their first SEC win…
“Personally, I don’t think of it like we are trying to get the first win. I think of it as we have to win nine out of the next 11 games. I am not thinking about getting the first win. I don’t think the weight on our shoulders gets any heavier. We aren’t thinking ?man we can’t win one game.’ That is not my approach with it. None of the guys in our locker room are saying ?I hope we just get this one.’ We are focused on the whole season.”
G Alex Farrer
On his strong performance tonight…
“I am not trying to do anything special. Whatever happens happens. If it is passing the ball or playing defense I am just trying to do what is best for the team. I know that is kind of clich?, but that is reality. I am trying to do my part and fit in. When you try to do too much, that is when problems start.”
On if he was surprised about how well G Alex Farrer played…
“We didn’t find out how good he was tonight, we have known that he is a great player. That is why he has started a couple of games. I personally expect him to keep it up and continue to play well. He can shoot the ball well and he is a great addition to our team.”
ARKANSAS HEAD COACH JOHN PELPHREY
On their pre-game preparation…
“I thought our pre-game warm up at Georgia was terrific. I would have been surprised if our effort wouldn’t have been tremendous tonight, but you never know as a coach. You like to say you know, but until you come out here and get in this environment you don’t know. Yes, I really believe coming here tonight that this would be our best effort of the year. I thought we would be a better team. I didn’t know how that would translate to playing or making shots. We may end up turning the ball over, but I thought we would be more aggressive.”
On Patrick Beverley’s play tonight…
“Everybody always asks me, ?What’s going on with Patrick (Beverley)?’ There’s nothing wrong with Patrick. He’s not going to sneak up on anybody. He was the freshman of the year in this league. I think he was on the second or third team (All-SEC). He’s an All-American guy. He played and got a silver medal in the Junior Olympics. Everyone knows what Patrick Beverley does on the offensive side. He’s first or second on the team in scoring but the rebounding he does, his toughness, his heart, taking charges, diving on the floor. He sees those as game winning plays, and he was there for every one of them.”
ARKANSAS PLAYER QUOTES
G Patrick Beverley
On tonight’s game…
“It’s a very big win for us, but you have to respect LSU. They played well and their coach coached well. They came out the second half ready to go, but I think we kept our composure.”
F Sonny Weems
On the win…
“The week off really helped us. We had a stronger mindset. We just came in and concentrated on defense.”
On making all three points he attempted in the first half…
“I’ve been working on it in practice. I wasn’t trying to shoot that many. I usually shoot two or three per game, but I was hot, so I just kept shooting.”