Tigers Face Arkansas to Start 3-Game Homestand, Wed., 6 p.m. CT
BATON ROUGE – Three chances at home in succession make Wednesday night’s men’s basketball contest against the Arkansas Razorbacks important enough to grab your attention.
In a year when home court advantage can be critical the LSU Tigers will be looking to extend an eight-game home winning streak when the Tigers and Razorbacks meet at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Tipoff for the contest is just after 6 p.m. and the game will be televised by ESPN2 with Tom Hart and Jimmy Dykes on the call. The Voice of the Tigers, Chris Blair (who was recently named the National Sports Media Association Louisiana Sportscaster of the Year) and former head coach John Brady will call the game on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network including Guaranty Media flagship Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge.
LSU comes in at 8-2 and 3-1 in the SEC while Arkansas is 10-2 and 2-2 in the league. LSU is coming off a 75-61 road win at Ole Miss on Saturday and Arkansas was a 99-69 winner at home Saturday over Georgia.
The Tigers played a strong defensive game and continued to excel on offense even though freshman Cameron Thomas injured his ankle in the early moments of the Ole Miss game when he attempted his first three-point field goal. Trendon Watford scored 21 points, Javonte Smart 17 points and six assists, Darius Days had 13 points and freshman Eric Gaines who came off the bench to play over 28 minutes had 10 points and four steals.
Thomas is expected to be a game-time decision on whether he will play against the Razorbacks according to Coach Wade during his media session earlier on Tuesday.
Freshman Moses Moody leads the Arkansas team in scoring at 16.8 points per game, while JD Notae is at 15.4 points a game. Desi Sills averaged 11.8 points and Jalen Tate is at 10.8 a contest.
Last year the two teams won on their home courts and in 2019 the team’s each won on the road. In the 79-77 win a year ago in Baton Rouge, it was an old-fashioned three-point play (basket and free throw) by Trendon Watford that was the difference.
Arkansas still leads the overall series, 37-32 but the Tigers lead in games in Baton Rouge, 18-12.
The two teams are very close in several SEC categories including 1-2 in points per game with Arkansas at 88.2 points per game and LSU at 85.6. Arkansas is first in scoring margin at +20.9 and LSU is third at +15.6. The teams are first and fourth in free throw percentage with LSU at 77.8 percent and Arkansas at 73.7 percent.
Outside the arc, LSU is third in the league at 36.5 percent and Arkansas is fourth at 35.6 percent. LSU is second in three-point field goal defense at 27.8 percent, while Arkansas is fourth at 30.0 percent.
After hosting Arkansas, the Tigers will host South Carolina on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. and then Arkansas next Tuesday (Jan. 19) at 8 p.m.