LSU is much improved in head coach Matt McMahon’s second season at the school.
LSU won just two Southeastern Conference games last season, but the Tigers are 16-13 (8-8 SEC) as they prepare to visit Arkansas in Fayetteville on Wednesday night.
The Tigers have won four of their past five games and are tied for seventh place in the conference.
“We’re right there in the mix,” McMahon said. “To get into the top half of the SEC standings from where we started is pretty amazing.”
During the Tigers’ surge, they have victories against ranked opponents South Carolina and Kentucky. They have consecutive road victories — against the Gamecocks and vs. Vanderbilt, 75-61 on Saturday — for the first time under McMahon.
LSU has clinched a winning record for the regular season, and against the Commodores, the Tigers set a school record with their 10th game this season with at least 10 3-pointers made, surpassing the 2017-18 and 2019-20 teams.
The Razorbacks (14-15, 5-11) have struggled this season, but they bounced back from a disappointing loss at home against Vanderbilt to hang with then-No. 16 Kentucky on the road before losing 111-102 on Saturday.
“We had a chance to beat a team that has a chance to win the national championship,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said.
The Razorbacks had a nine-point lead with less than nine minutes remaining before the Wildcats went on a 21-6 run to turn the game in their favor.
“We made progress,” Musselman said. “We scored enough points to win. Tough loss, but it was by far our best offensive game, not even close.”
Khalif Battle had his third consecutive 30-point game, finishing with 34 against Kentucky to average 37.3 in the past three games. He has come a long way from a 95-74 road loss against LSU on Feb. 3 in which he was scoreless in nine first-half minutes and didn’t play in the second half because of what Musselman called a “coach’s decision.”
–Field Level Media
