SEC MEN’S BASKETBALL

Tigers keep Hogs reeling in new year

Arkansas forward Trey Thompson, left, and guard Anton Beard react late during the Razorbacks' 75-54 loss to LSU on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018, in Fayetteville.
Arkansas forward Trey Thompson, left, and guard Anton Beard react late during the Razorbacks' 75-54 loss to LSU on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- It hasn't been a happy new year for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Horrible is more like it.

LSU beat the Razorbacks 75-54 on Wednesday night in Walton Arena before an announced crowd of 11,818 to drop them to 0-3 in 2018.

The Tigers (11-4, 2-1 SEC) became the first team to beat the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (11-5, 1-3) in Walton Arena this season.

"We were just hoping to come in here and hang around and keep it close and give ourselves an opportunity there at the end," first-year LSU Coach Will Wade said. "Obviously, things just kind of snowballed and it was our night tonight."

The Tigers used a 12-0 run to jump out to a 19-5 lead with 12:30 left in the first half.

Arkansas didn't pull closer than 12 points the rest of the game and trailed by as many as 24 points in the first half, 36-12, before cutting LSU's halftime lead to 41-21.

"We just came out real sluggish," Razorbacks senior forward Trey Thompson said. "In this league, you can't give people 20 points and try to dig yourself out of the hole."

The Razorbacks shot 6 of 33 from the field (18.2 percent) in the first half.

"We just couldn't make shots," Thompson said. "We didn't play no defense, either. So we helped them a lot.

"When you're not making shots, you've got to play defense to keep it close."

LSU shot 57.2 percent (29 of 55) from the field, including a three-pointer by senior forward Aaron Epps that bounced high off the rim and then went through the basket to give the Tigers a 58-43 lead with 9:47 left after Arkansas had pulled within 12 points.

"He hit a dagger," said Arkansas senior guard Jaylen Barford, who scored a game-high 17 points.

"I was just hoping that it fell," said Epps, who led LSU with 13 points and 11 rebounds. "I was open, so I just had to shoot it."

Epps' three-pointer started an 11-0 run for the Tigers that pushed their lead to 66-43 with 7:15 left.

Arkansas didn't pull closer than 21 points the rest of the game.

"It was kind of typical of how their night went," Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said of Epps' three-pointer. "They got the bounces.

"There was still a bunch of time in the game with almost 10 minutes. That's the go time for us, and I thought we had gained some momentum and he makes a big, big shot.

"They answered the call."

The Razorbacks didn't start the game with a sense of urgency after losing on the road last week at Mississippi State 78-75 and Auburn 88-77.

"Let me congratulate LSU coming in and doing what they had to do," Anderson said. "They came in and caught us real flat.

"We came out and couldn't make any baskets early on."

Arkansas' only lead was 1-0 after junior forward Adrio Bailey hit 1 of 2 free throws.

"After that it just seemed like there was a lid on the basket," Anderson said.

LSU freshman point guard Tremont Waters had 8 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds with just 2 turnovers in 36 minutes.

"I thought Tremont did a good job of orchestrating getting everybody involved," Anderson said.

Tigers sophomore guard Skylar Mays and senior guard Randy Onwuasor scored 12 points each, and senior forward Duop Reath had 11.

LSU improved to 3-0 in road games this season, including victories at Memphis and Texas A&M.

Razorbacks senior guard Daryl Macon finished with nine points and shot 2 of 7 from the field. Freshman forward Daniel Gafford had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots for Arkansas, and Thompson had 8 points and 6 rebounds.

"Tremont was in control of the game out there," Wade said. "But I thought our other guards did a great job.

"Macon and Barford are so difficult to guard. I thought they did a phenomenal job staying in their pocket and executing our defensive game plan."

LSU surpassed its victory total for all of last season when the Tigers finished 10-21.

"Good win for our team," Wade said. "I was proud of our guys. That was about as well as we could play. We executed extremely well defensively, so just very, very pleased with our effort.

"This is a very, very tough place to win. They've got a great team and a great program. They win a ton of SEC games here at home. They win a ton of SEC games period. So this was a big win for us."

Anderson said the Razorbacks didn't play with their usual edge at home.

"I always talk about aggressiveness and mental toughness and wanting to be a team that hangs our hats on defense, but for some reason we couldn't generate the energy," Anderson said. "We made 19 field goals."

The Razorbacks finished 19 of 59 from the field.

"We can make 19 field goals in 10 minutes," Anderson said. "But tonight it didn't take place, and let's give LSU some credit."

Game sketch

RECORDS Arkansas 11-5, 1-3 SEC; LSU 11-4, 2-1 STARS LSU senior forward Aaron Epps (13 points, 11 rebounds), freshman guard Tremont Waters (8 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds) TURNING POINT LSU went on a 12-0 run to take a 19-5 lead with 12:30 left in the first half. KEY STAT Arkansas shot 18.2 percent (6 of 33) from the field in the first half. UP NEXT Arkansas plays Missouri at 5 p.m. Saturday at Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

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Sports on 01/11/2018

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