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Hogs fall short at end, dropping nail-biter on road to LSU, 79-77

Despite getting blown out on the boards, Arkansas somehow found itself in the last few seconds with a shot to win a game on the road at LSU on Wednesday night.

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Despite getting blown out on the boards, Arkansas somehow found itself in the last few seconds with a shot to win a game on the road at LSU on Wednesday night.

But the last dozen seconds saw the big effort come up short, giving up an old-fashioned 3-point play and the Tigers came away with a 79-77 win at the Pete Maravich Center.

When Adrio Bailey swatted Skylar Mays’ layup out of bounds with 12 seconds left and the Razorbacks holding a thin 77-76 lead, things were looking up.

That lasted four seconds.

Jimmy Whitt, Jr., fouled the Tigers’ Trendon Watfer on a short jumper, he hit the and-1 free throw. The Hogs came down the floor and Isaiah Joe’s jumper was blocked at the buzzer, Desi Sills grabbed it and wasn’t able to get off much of a shot.

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman has said all season he didn’t expect to win many offensive rebounding battles, but he probably didn’t think they would be like Wednesday night. LSU dominated that area, 23-3.

As usual, the only way the Hogs stayed in the game was forcing turnovers and they won that area, 13-7. They were out-rebounded on the defensive side, too, 30-21.

“To think that a team could beat you on the glass, 26-0 in second-chance points, and you still have a chance to win the game is absolutely unheard of,” Hogs coach Eric Musselman said later.

That’s not a good combination, yet the Razorbacks found a way to stay in the game behind Mason Jones’ 24 points and another 22 by Whitt.

At the end, though, Jones was on the bench, fouling out with 32 seconds left.

The game had settled into the usual Arkansas-LSU game after the Hogs saw an 11-point lead in the first half slip away. That was the largest lead of the game. The Tigers’ biggest lead was 54-47.

The story of the game was rebounding and Mussleman said the Tigers just took it.

“It was strictly them going and getting it off the glass and them getting free-throw attempts. That’s what won the game for them,” he said.

The loss evened Arkansas’ record in SEC play at 1-1 and dropped them to 12-2 overall. They will stay on the road, going to Ole Miss on Saturday.

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2024 Razorbacks Football

Thu, Aug 29vs UAPB (Little Rock)W, 70-0
Sat, Sep 7@ Oklahoma StateL, 31-39 2OT
Sat, Sep 14vs UABW, 37-27
Sat, Sep 21@ AuburnW, 24-14
Sat, Sep 28vs Texas A&M (Arl)L, 21-17
Sat, Oct 5vs TennesseeW, 19-14
Sat, Oct 19vs LSUL, 34-10
Sat, Oct 26@ Mississippi StateW, 58-25
Sat, Nov 2vs Ole Miss11:00 AM
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Sat, Nov 16vs Texas11:00 AM
Sat, Nov 23vs Louisiana TechTBD
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Sat, Nov 30@ MissouriTBD
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2024 High School Rankings

Following is the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll including the Overall Top 10, the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, plus the top three in the 8-man division, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending August 24. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from last week's poll:
OVERALLRecordPtsPrv
1.Bryant (18)8-02521
2.Conway (6)8-02302
3.Greenwood (2)8-02103
4.Little Rock Parkview7-11714
5.Bentonville5-31416
6.Benton7-11265
7.Fayetteville6-21008
8.Pulaski Academy6-2757
9.Rogers5-3459
10.Shiloh Christian6-24010
Others receiving votes: Marion 13, Valley View 9, Joe T Robinson 8, Mountain Home 4, Cabot 3, Elkins 3.
CLASS 7A
1.Bryant (20)8-01241
2.Conway (6)8-01052
3.Bentonville5-3753
4.Fayetteville6-2455
5.Pulaski Academy6-2354
Others receiving votes: Rogers 5.
CLASS 6A
1.Greenwood (26)8-01301
2.Benton7-11022
3.Shiloh Christian6-2713
4.Marion7-1524
5.Mountain Home7-131
Others receiving votes: Little Rock Catholic 4.
CLASS 5A
1.Little Rock Parkview (23)7-11271
2.Joe T Robinson7-1902
3.Valley View (3)8-0803
4.Hot Springs Lakeside7-1484
5.Farmington7-130
Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 4, Maumelle 4, Morrilton 3, Greenbrier 2, Harding Academy 1.
CLASS 4A
1.Elkins (19)8-01161
2.Arkadelphia (5)6-2792
3.Little Rock Mills (1)8-0703
4.Warren6-2404
5.Malvern (1)8-0315
Others receiving votes: Dardanelle 22, Southside Batesville 11, Mena 8, Bauxite 7, DeWitt 4, Highland 2.
CLASS 3A
4.Bismarck (15)8-01054
5.Fordyce (4)8-0765
Prescott (3)7-1531t
1.Osceola (2)6-149
3.Mayflower (1)8-036
Others receiving votes: Booneville (1) 31, Rivercrest 19, Mansfield 14, Charleston 4, Rison 3.
CLASS 2A
1.Carlisle (21)8-01211
2.Conway Christian (4)8-01042
3.Des Arc7-1663
4.Bigelow (1)6-2455
5.Murfreesboro6-230
Others receiving votes: Marked Tree 10, Mineral Springs 6, Junction City 5, Cross County 1, Mount Ida 1, Poyen 1
8-MAN SANCTIONED
1.Strong-Huttig (25)5-0761
2.Midland (1)7-0502
3.Cedar Ridge7-1253
Others receiving votes: Rector 5.

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ESPN ARKANSAS 99.5 IN FAYETTEVILLE, 95.3 IN THE RIVER VALLEY, 96.3 IN HOT SPRINGS, 104.3 IN HARRISON-MOUNTAIN HOME.