Final | Arkansas 99, LSU 90
Mason Jones scored a game-high 36 points and Jimmy Whitt added a monster 26-point, 15-rebound double-double on his Senior Night and Arkansas beat LSU in its final home game of the regular season.
The Razorbacks led by as many as 23 points early in the second half, but the Tigers did not go away. Behind Skylar Mays' 28 points, LSU got to within seven in the final minutes. Arkansas, though, iced the game away at the free throw line, securing its 19th win of the season and seventh in SEC play.
Desi Sills added 13 points for Arkansas and Isaiah Joe pitched in 11. Ethan Henderson scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds in his fourth career start.
:48, 2H | Arkansas 92, LSU 85
Mason Jones canned a pair of free throws to give him 33 points tonight, then Emmitt Williams threw done a one-handed dunk on the other end. LSU calls for time.
Skylar Mays is up to 28 points and six assists. Jimmy Whitt has 24 points and a career-high 14 boards. Whitt has also handed out 15 assists in the last three games. He had 16 in Arkansas' first 15 games in 2020.
1:49, 2H | Arkansas 87, LSU 80
Mason Jones added a layup to give him 31 points for the night, his eighth 30-point game of the season.
LSU, though, won't go away. Its pressure in the backcourt is giving Arkansas fits. This is as close as LSU has been since midway through the first half. Arkansas has missed 17 free throws tonight.
2:47, 2H | Arkansas 83, LSU 72
The Razorbacks haven't been great on the defensive end in the second half and LSU has taken advantage a bit, trimming the Arkansas lead to 11 at the final media stoppage.
Emmitt Williams added a dunk and Darius Days got a layup to go to set the current score. That was Days' second score of the night. He's been really quiet due to foul trouble, and he fouled out to send the game into the last media timeout.
Mason Jones needs one score for another 30-point game, and Jimmy Whitt has 22 points and 13 boards. Isaiah Joe will be at the line when play continues.
4:16, 2H | Arkansas 83, LSU 70
The Tigers cut their deficit to 11 points on a Skylar Mays 3 from the left wing, but Mason Jones answered back with a driving layup at the rim. He's got 29 points tonight and continues to be a walking bucket.
Jimmy Whitt is up to 22 points and 13 rebounds, 10 and 5 in the second half. He just knocked down a free throw line jumper to kill an 8-2 LSU run. Dude has been lights out on his Senior Night.
Mays has poured in 25 points for the Tigers and knocked down 4 of 7 from deep. Javonte Smart fouled out with 6:13 to play. He had 14 points on 6 of 16 shooting.
7:47, 2H | Arkansas 75, LSU 60
The Tigers have made a little bit of a run to cut their deficit to 15, but Arkansas appears to still be in firm control.
Desi Sills will be at the line when play resumes. He attacked the rim late in the shot clock, challenging LSU's Trendon Watford and drawing a whistle. Sills has struggled a bit at the line, hitting just 3 of 6 attempts.
There was a long stoppage in play a few minutes ago to fix the net after Sills went to the rim hard in transition and got fouled.
Mason Jones is up to 25 points and Jimmy Whitt has 20 points to go with 11 rebounds, three assists and a steal. He's been solid all game long.
Skylar Mays has a team-high 12 points for LSU in the second half. He has 19 for the game.
11:53, 2H | Arkansas 72, LSU 53
Mason Jones toyed with a Tigers defender in front of the Razorbacks' bench for about 10 seconds before splashing a 3 right in his face. Jones is up to 23 points, three assists and two steals tonight.
Arkansas is plus-14 with him on the floor.
Jimmy Whitt has been terrific since halftime. He is 4 of 5 from the floor since the break for eight points and has 20 for the game. This is his eighth 20-point game of the season.
The Razorbacks are shooting 52.3 percent tonight. Ethan Henderson is at the line when play continues.
15:58, 2H | Arkansas 64, LSU 43
The Razorbacks have continued their strong play on the offensive end in the second half. Arkansas is 3 of 6 from the floor, but LSU is 3 of 4. Still, the Razorbacks are holding their lead well.
Jimmy Whitt has four points since halftime on a pair of midrange jumpers. He's up to 16 points, his most in a game since adding 19 at Tennessee on Feb. 11. He got a great bounce on his second bucket of the half.
Isaiah Joe also added a rare right-corner 3, then missed one from almost the same spot. He is now 5 of 32 from the right corner this season.
Skylar Mays has five points for LSU in the second half.
Half | Arkansas 55, LSU 34
Best half of the season for the Razorbacks, and it's really not even close. Arkansas was clicking on both ends of the floor, and that's why it has a 20-plus point lead at the break.
Mason Jones went for 20 points and had a four-point play toward the end of the half. The crowd in Bud Walton Arena was chanting MVP as he shot his free throw. He's been otherworldly.
Jimmy Whitt has 12 points on his Senior Night, and Desi Sills added 10. Arkansas shot 53.1 percent for the half.
Ethan Henderson chipped in seven points and four rebounds, too, in his four career start. Reggie Chaney came off the bench and gave Arkansas six good minutes. Isaiah Joe was great on the defensive end, taking two charges and blocking out really well.
The Razorbacks turned the ball over only once in the first 20 minutes and handed out nine assists.
Javonte Smart is 2 of 10 and has just eight points to lead LSU. The Tigers shot 35.5 percent in the first half. Emmitt Williams and Skylar Mays has seven points.
3:45, 1H | Arkansas 42, LSU 22
This has hands down been the best first half of basketball Arkansas has played this season, in my opinion.
The Razorbacks are team rebounding, connected defensively and getting great contributions from everyone who steps on the floor. Reggie Chaney, who has seen his role decrease of late, is plus-6 in his two minutes.
He defended well an LSU shot in the lane then found Jimmy Whitt for a dunk off a no-look feed. Underrated in terms of interior passing, Chaney is.
Mason Jones leads with 12 points, Whitt 11 and Desi Sills 10. Ethan Henderson also has seven points and four boards. Isaiah Joe has been great on the defensive end tonight, particularly blocking out Tigers forwards. Also taken a charge.
7:52, 1H | Arkansas 26, LSU 16
Mason Jones, Jimmy Whitt and Desi Sills have added layups in the last two-plus minutes.
Jones' score came in transition, where he is at his best. He finished with the right hand on the left side of the rim, which isn't easy, but he made it look that way. The floor is tilted with Jones on the break. Fun to watch.
Whitt simply took Marlon Taylor off the bounce going to his left and finished at the rim. Simple enough. Sills then offensive rebounded a Whitt missed jumper and used and up-and-under move to get his third bucket of the night.
Sills and Jones each have eight points, and Whitt has seven. Trendon Watford and Skylar Mays have five for LSU. The Tigers are shooting 30 percent from the floor to this point.
Arkansas also winning the battle on the boards 14-12.
10:39, 1H | Arkansas 20, LSU 11
After Trendon Watford hit a pair of free throws, Arkansas puts together a solid team effort on the glass following an LSU miss and it leads to a transition 3 from Mason Jones on the left wing.
Jones has six points tonight, as does Desi Sills. Will Wade calls for time.
11:35, 1H | Arkansas 15, LSU 9
Ethan Henderson played a key role for the Razorbacks between the media stoppages. He has provided great energy so far and given Arkansas three points and three rebounds in eight minutes. The Razorbacks are plus-6 with him on the floor.
LSU has already committed eight fouls tonight, so Arkansas will be shooting free throws the rest of the half should it draw a whistle. The Razorbacks are 9 of 11 at the line tonight. Skylar Mays and Darius Days have two fouls apiece.
The Tigers are 4 of 14 from the floor and 0 of 4 from 3. Trendon Watford will be at the line when play resumes. Jimmy Whitt fouled him on a floater in the lane prior to the timeout.
15:09, 1H | Arkansas 9, LSU 6
The Razorbacks were struggling to find a flow offensively in the opening couple of minutes, but Desi Sills has brought Arkansas and this crowd to life.
Sills has buried his first two 3s of the game, one from the right wing and one from the top of the key, to give the Razorbacks an early spark. He is now shooting 62.5 percent (15 of 24) from 3 in games he comes off the bench. That is really, really good.
Jimmy Whitt has Arkansas' other three points, all from the line.
Marlon Taylor has a team-high four points for LSU at this point. One of his buckets came on a monster two-hand putback slam. Trendon Watford will be at the line when play resumes.
Pregame
Arkansas' starting lineup: Isaiah Joe, Mason Jones, Jimmy Whitt, Adrio Bailey and Ethan Henderson.
There are a couple of big questions entering tonight's game. Can Arkansas hold its own on the glass against LSU this time around? The Tigers won the rebounding battle 53-24 in the teams' first meeting on Jan. 8. LSU rebounded 52.3 percent of its own misses and grabbed 91 percent of available defensive rebounds. Darius Days finished with a game-high 16 rebounds, nine offensive in the Tigers’ 79-77 win in Baton Rouge.
And can the Razorbacks regroup from its worst defensive showing of the season at Georgia? Arkansas recorded a defensive efficiency figure of 134.0 at Georgia, per KenPom, the second-worst mark of Eric Musselman’s college coaching career. The Razorbacks have allowed .94 points per possession in their six SEC wins and 1.07 PPP in 10 league losses.
It is Senior Night, and Bailey, Whitt, Jeantal Cylla and Jamario Bell will be honored following the game, according to the team's Twitter account. Arkansas is 11-9 in its final home game of the regular season dating back to 2000.
LSU's starters: Skyler Mays, Javonte Smart, Marlon Taylor, Darius Days and Trendon Watford.
This LSU team owns the SEC's top offensive efficiency rating in conference games at 113.1, per KenPom. It is the No. 9 offensive rebounding team in the nation, grabbing just shy of 36 percent of its misses. That number jumps to 36.5 percent in SEC play.
Mays and Smart are the Tigers' biggest threats from 3-point range. Both players are shooting better than 35 percent beyond the arc in conference, and Darius Days can step out to the perimeter as well. He hit two 3s on Jan. 8 and is 8 of 20 from distance in his last three games against Texas A&M, Florida and South Carolina.
The Tigers have four players - Watford, Emmitt Williams, Days, Taylor - in the top 20 in the SEC in offensive rebound rate, according to KenPom. LSU, though, closed February 3-5 largely due to its defense. In those eight games, it allowed opponents to score 1.09 PPP and shoot 40.6 percent from 3-point range.
The Tigers' defensive efficiency rating in SEC-only games is 109.6, which ranks 13th.