Hogs turn blowout into nail-biting 90-89 win over LSU in Baton Rouge

Arkansas was good enough in Baton Rouge on Saturday to have an 18-point lead over an LSU team that was undefeated in SEC play with 13:45 to go in the game.

They were lucky enough to get out with a 90-89 win and get the Hogs’ first win over a ranked team in awhile.

It is the third straight SEC win for Arkansas.

Mike Anderson had talked on Thursday about how they needed defense to travel this week and it did to a certain point, keeping the Tigers at 44 percent from the field and shutting them out the final 2:01 of the game.

For the Hogs, though, it was more important in this one that they found some offense.

PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

Daniel Gafford had 23 points before fouling out late, but Keyshawn Embery-Simpson came off the bench red hot, scoring 16, then Isaiah Joe found his shooting touch after an illness last week and added 18.

LSU managed to come back behind a parade to the free-throw line, making 34-of-38 attempts (the Hogs shot just 11 free throws all night) and had a shot to win it at the end until their usually reliable point guard, Tremont Waters, tried an ill-advised alley-oop pass with a 1-point lead and 36 seconds left that went haywire.

Arkansas came down and Mason Jones made a short jumper with 22 seconds left to swing it the other way and the Tigers missed three shots at the other end, including a layup, to give the Hogs a much-needed win.

The Razorbacks were 13-of-24 from the 3-point line, but LSU won the rebounds, 44-20.

Arkansas has now won three straight SEC games to move to 13-8 overall (4-4 in the SEC) while LSU fell to 17-4 (7-1 in the SEC).

The Hogs will host Vanderbilt on Tuesday night in an 8 p.m. game.