LITTLE ROCK — On the eve of a classic Super Bowl, the Arkansas Razorbacks traveled to Baton Rouge to take on an LSU team that is athletic but hadn’t been very disciplined - until Saturday.
Arkansas suffered its usual cold shooting from the outside on the road, but a lot of the credit should go to the Tigers, who played great man-to-man defense and forced the Razorbacks to take shots that more than once had Coach Mike Anderson ask them what they were thinking.
With freshman Hunter Mickelson in foul trouble and parked on the bench, Anderson again found himself having to go with a four-guard lineup far too much, and LSU dominated the boards, especially on the offensive end.
Talented freshman BJ Young had an off game, scoring only three points before he fouled out with four turnovers.
Yet the Razorbacks shed a slow start, and for the second consecutive Saturday they were right there with less than two minutes to play but couldn’t put together a final push to get their first road victory of the season.
They will, though, or at least there are indications they should with four final games away from Walton Arena: Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn and Mississippi State.
It’s not just because the Bulldogs, the Vols and the Tigers aren’t as good as the Razorbacks. It’s more like the Razorbacks are showing some grit and improvement on the road.
Absolutely they would have won Saturday if they had played like they did in their road loss at Alabama. But still, it was much better than the early performances at Kentucky and Ole Miss.
Anderson knew going into the game it probably would not be a hostile crowd - there were thousands of empty seats - but that the Razorbacks would have to guard against not protecting the ball.
LSU’s record doesn’t show it, but it is not a great matchup for the Razorbacks because the Tigers have quick athletes, especially in freshman point guard Anthony Hicks, who was named Mr. Basketball in Kentucky last season and had only two turnovers Saturday.
The Razorbacks had 19 turnovers - three more than the Tigers - and only eight assists, and that is not a winning ratio in any game.
The Hogs also made only 3 of 13 three-pointers and finally had to lay off the long range bombing at Anderson’s urging.
So the road woes continued, but for the first time in too long there is a feeling that this Razorbacks team might be flirting with the NCAA Tournament.
All of their home games are winnable, which would give them 20 victories, a figure that used to be considered a magic number to be on the NCAA Tournament bubble but not any longer. But add one road victory and a victory in the SEC Tournament, and you are talking about a team that has to be on the radar on Selection Sunday.
The fifth-place team in the SEC opens conference tournament play against the 12th-place team, a spot traditionally reserved for the worst team in the league.
Right now, though, Anderson and his staff are not thinking about March Madness.
They are more concerned with the February frenzy, which includes a trip to Georgia on Wednesday night, and the Bulldogs are one of two teams in a battle to be the SEC cellar dweller.
Saturday was not a good day for the Hogs overall, but again they showed no sign of giving up.
They fought to the final minute, and soon that should pay off for the young Razorbacks.
Sports, Pages 23 on 02/05/2012