In the Lane

Nostalgic for Nolan, Dale days

Arkansas coach Mike Anderson shouts instructions to his players during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against LSU on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019, in Baton Rouge, La. (AP Photo/Bill Feig)

BATON ROUGE -- Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson thought Saturday's 90-89 victory at No. 19 LSU played out like a throwback game to days when he was an assistant coach to Nolan Richardson.

"What an unbelievable game," Anderson said after the Razorbacks survived three missed shots by the Tigers in the closing seconds. "I saw Coach Dale Brown in here today, and it reminded me of all the great games we had in here when I was an assistant for Coach Richardson.

"We've had some crazy games. A lot of hard-fought games."

Anderson and his players felt like the Tigers snatched a victory away from them in a 94-88 decision in overtime at Walton Arena on Jan. 12.

"They came in and stole one in Fayetteville," Anderson said. "We had just enough left in the tank tonight to pull this one out."

Said Arkansas guard Isaiah Joe: "It was an amazing road win. It felt good to be able to steal one on the road, especially against one of the best teams in the SEC right now."

Gafford goes big

Daniel Gafford has lit the LSU interior defense up in two games this season.

The 6-11 forward scored a game-high 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting with 8 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal before fouling out with 2:01 remaining.

In a 94-88 overtime loss to LSU at Walton Arena on Jan. 12, Gafford scored a career-high 32 points and had 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Gafford is 25 of 34 (73.5 percent) from the floor against the Tigers this year.

"That's just me having my mindset to dominate in the post," Gafford said.

Series stats

Arkansas improved its lead to 36-31 in the series, including 32-26 since joining the SEC in 1991-92.

The Razorbacks improved to 12-17 in games played at the Maravich Assembly Center.

Keeping cool

The Maravich Assembly Center crowd was at its loudest when the Tigers whittled a 66-48 lead down with scrambling full-court pressure before finally taking an 85-84 advantage with 3:41 left on a Ja'vonte Smart bucket.

"I could definitely feel that," Arkansas guard Mason Jones said. "It was great tonight. They gave their team a lot of energy.

"They just tested us. We've been tested all year. We wanted to see if we were learning. We learned tonight. It was a good win."

Bench plug

Keyshawn Embery-Simpson tied a season-high with 16 points off the Arkansas bench on 6-of-9 shooting, including 4 of 6 from three-point range.

"Whenever everybody's shooting threes like Keyshawn was tonight, that means it's a good day for the Razorbacks because if he's not missing, nobody's missing," Arkansas forward Daniel Gafford said.

Joe go

Arkansas guard Isaiah Joe rebounded from a two-game lull due partly to an illness that had him at less than full strength.

The freshman hit 6 of 13 shots, including 4 of 8 from three-point range, and 2 of 3 free throws to score 18 points. Joe had scored a combined eight points in the previous two games on 2-of-10 shooting.

"Oh yeah, I'm much stronger," Joe said. "I'm coming back stronger and better than ever."

No-look dimes

Arkansas point guard Jalen Harris created one of the game's best early shots after good ball movement.

Harris had just taken a pass from Mason Jones, dribbled once left to right on the left side of the key, then looped the ball over his head to Jones, who had settled into the left corner. Jones rose up and made the 20-foot three-point shot.

Harris did himself one better a few minutes later. He ran the baseline on a back-door cut, took a bounce pass from Adrio Bailey and whipped the ball over his head again to Daniel Gafford, who hit a short shot and converted a traditional three-point play.

From the line

LSU entered the day ranked second in the SEC with 75.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line and improved on it with a 32 of 38 (84.2 percent) performance. Meanwhile, Arkansas was last at 64.9 percent entering the game and stayed right about on that track at 7 of 11 (63.6 percent).

Going big

For the third consecutive game in the series, one of the teams scored in the 90s and the other in the 80s in what has become a high-scoring matchup.

LSU won 94-88 in overtime in Fayetteville earlier this season and won 94-86 against the Hogs last year.

The Razorbacks snapped a three-game losing streak in the series, which came after they had won three in a row.

Gabe's game

Arkansas forward Gabe Osabuohien had an active game with a season-high three charges drawn and a career-high five assists.

Osabuohien also had 3 points and 3 rebounds in his 16 minutes before fouling out with 7:32 remaining.

Osabuohien also hit a three-pointer for the third consecutive game, which might start making teams rethink the scouting report on him.

"The one 22 [Osabuohien] hit, he was wide open," LSU Coach Will Wade said. "We weren't going to guard him."

Sports on 02/03/2019