FAYETTEVILLE -- A hot LSU team will take on a hungry Arkansas squad this afternoon in a game that could have major postseason implications for the Razorbacks.
Arkansas (15-10, 5-8 SEC) is considered among a number of teams on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament heading into today's 1 p.m. game at Walton Arena, and the Razorbacks are in need of big victories down the stretch as they try to advance to the tournament for the first time since the 2011-2012 season.
"We like where we are right now," said Jimmy Dykes, who is in his first season at Arkansas. "It would be a huge, huge boost to our resume ... if we could beat LSU."
The Tigers (15-10, 9-4) have won seven of their past nine games and are tied for third in the SEC. The streak was triggered by back-to-back victories over No. 15 Mississippi State and No. 10 Kentucky and followed shortly after the return to the lineup of guard Danielle Ballard, who was suspended for two months by Coach Nikki Caldwell for an undisclosed violation of team rules.
"We're growing up," Caldwell said Thursday after LSU's 64-52 victory over Georgia. "People are accepting their responsibility on the team, and everybody is doing their part to ensure that we're successful, whether they score a basket or not.
"We're playing unselfish. We're allowing certain teammates to shine. I feel like we've got the team that has one of the biggest hearts in the country."
LSU, whose 6-6 record in nonconference play was its worst in 20 years, is 8-3 since Ballard was cleared to participate.
"They are a completely different ball club than they were in November and December," Dykes said. "Danielle Ballard, her presence on the floor the last 11 or 12 games has them playing like a top 25 team, although they're not ranked there."
Arkansas had won four of five games before losing 73-56 to No. 2 South Carolina on Thursday at Walton Arena.
Sophomore forward Jessica Jackson, the SEC's reigning co-player of the week, is averaging 17.2 points per game over the past five games and is shooting 46 percent from the field in that span.
"Jessica Jackson has really come on the last three weeks," Dykes said. "I think she's figuring out what it takes to be great. She wants to be great, and she's tracking right down that path right now.
"It's a big boost to us offensively because ... we're not having those scoring droughts that we had sometimes early in the year."
Dykes said Jackson and senior point guard Calli Berna are playing their best right now.
Berna, the SEC's active leader in assists (625) by 109 over Texas A&M's Jordan Jones, has 15 assists in her past two games and is coming off a 5-of-7 shooting night against South Carolina.
Sports on 02/22/2015