Arkansas wanted it, but LSU needed it.
The Razorbacks are in the NCAA Tournament and probably can't fall lower than a No. 6 seed.
The Tigers, coming off a home loss to Tennessee, needed a victory over a Top 25 team -- in the polls and in the RPI -- more than they needed air if they wanted to keep their March Madness hopes alive.
The team that needed it played hard for 40 minutes, and as the buzzer sounded, Keith Hornsby, who was all alone in the corner after slipping away from Michael Qualls, hit the shot that gave the visitors an 81-78 victory.
Hornsby, the son of Grammy Award-winning musician Bruce Hornsby, gave the Tigers their biggest victory of the season.
LSU came out scrapping, led for most of the game, saw the lead slip away and refused to give up. The Tigers attacked the basket all afternoon, and in the end that was the difference.
The story for the Razorbacks was that three-point and free-throw shooting gave them the lead, but three-point and free-throw shooting was their Achilles' heel for the bulk of the game.
The Razorbacks jacked up 25 three-pointers and made seven. They missed eight free throws.
The Hogs were 21 of 41 on two-point attempts, and there should be no doubt the ball should have been in the hands of Bobby Portis more.
The sophomore scored 21 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and had 4 assists. That's the kind of performance that should have sewn up the award for most outstanding player in the SEC, although it will be bittersweet.
But this was the turnaround season Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson has been waiting on. The Hogs finished the regular season 13-5 in SEC play, with sole possession of second place, and they are 24-7 overall.
Those are NCAA Tournament numbers. No bubble next Sunday for the Razorbacks.
There was no surprise the Razorbacks started slow Saturday. They were coming off a come-from-behind road victory about 40 hours earlier in South Carolina, and they didn't get home until 1:30 a.m. Friday. So getting focused again so quickly had to be a problem. That's not an excuse, just a fact.
Plus, LSU is not a great matchup for Arkansas. The Tigers are so long, so lean and so athletic that running the court with the up-tempo Hogs was never a problem.
The real issue in the first half was that Arkansas let up on defense, which also happened Thursday in South Carolina.
The Hogs watched a 20-point lead evaporate into an 11-point deficit against the Gamecocks before they clamped down on defense. The Gamecocks took a 71-60 lead with 7:20 to play, but that was when the Razorbacks finally got serious again at what they do best, which is forcing mental mistakes.
Arkansas outscored South Carolina 18-3 while forcing three turnovers and making the Gamecocks miss two layups and a dunk that was attempted too quickly.
On Saturday, the Hogs fell behind 30-18 as the Tigers hit six consecutive field goals. No one will ever convince Anderson that giving up uncontested shots is a product of good defense, even at Walton Arena, where Arkansas finished 7-2 in SEC play.
The Razorbacks scrapped and clawed and pulled to within 33-32 before going cold. For some reason, this Razorbacks team still believes it is a three-point shooting team. It isn't. Arkansas was 2 of 12 from behind the three-point line in the first half but 13 of 20 on two-point attempts.
Arkansas is a team that can't force shots. It needs to stay patient and not panic when it gets behind, and most of all, it needs to focus on what it does best -- playing mind-numbing defense.
It wasn't a great way to finish a regular season, but it has been a season of success.
Sports on 03/08/2015