By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach John Pelphrey spent the past three days warning his team of the danger it was facing against LSU on Wednesday night.
He didn’t care if the Tigers were 0-9 in league play. Or that the Razorbacks appeared to have righted themsleves after some early-season struggles. In his mind, the Southeastern Conference Western Division matchup between first- and last-place teams had the makings of a nail-biter for the Razorbacks.
Arkansas may have paid attention to Pelphrey on Wednesday. Either that or he was just plain wrong.
The Razorbacks had no problems beating up on the Tigers en route to an 87-52 win in front of an announced crowd of 13,127 in Bud Walton Arena.
Arkansas raced out to a 10-0 lead, then, when LSU closed it to 12-9, used a 13-0 run midway through the first half to take control and cruise to the win.
In the process, the Razorbacks’ claimed their fifth straight SEC victory for the first time since 2006 and held onto their lead in the division. They did it in style, too, notching the program’s biggest win against the Tigers and the school’s third most-lopsided SEC win since joining the league in 1992.
“We felt really good about the way we played,” said Arkansas guard Rotnei Clarke, who scored 16 points. “That was one of our main focuses: Coming out and trying to start well. We wanted to come out with some intensity and jump on them quick.”
The Razorbacks did just that, building a 43-21 cushion at the break. It was an unfamiliar position.
The Razorbacks hadn’t led at halftime in 11 straight games dating back to their 66-62 overtime win against Missouri State on Dec. 22. That included their first eight SEC games this season, although the Razorbacks had rallied to win five of those games.
“It certainly is a different feeling than what we had a chance to experience at this point in time in the SEC season,” Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said.
The Razorbacks (13-11, 6-3 in SEC) accomplished it by harassing and pressing LSU’s guards. Arkansas forced 10 turnovers in the first half and collected eight steals. They turned the Tigers’ mistakes into 15 points and also added six blocked shots.
It proved to be a hole LSU (9-15, 0-10), which has struggled to score all season, could never climb out of en route to its 10th straight loss.
“It was a good old fashioned butt whoopin’” LSU coach Trent Johnson said. “We’re not very good. It’s no secret to that. … They’re just better.”
It didn’t help that LSU lost guard Bo Spencer, the team’s second-leading scorer, to an ankle injury in the first half. Without him, the Tigers only had one confidence scorer on the floor — Tasmin Mitchell.
The senior led the Tigers with 15 points and 13 rebounds, but didn’t get anything easy.
LSU shot 37.5 percent from the field in the game and turned the ball over 17 times. Arkansas collected 13 steals and outscored the Tigers 27-5 off mistakes. The Hogs also outrebounded LSU 40-29.
“We did the things we felt like we needed to do to put us in the best possible situation to win,” Pelphrey said of the Razorbacks’ defense.
Meanwhile, the Razorbacks were having a good time on the offensive end of the floor, too.
Point guard Courtney Fortson led the Razorbacks with 17 points. He, Clarke and senior Michael Washington spent a good portion of the second half watching Arkansas’ reserves play in the second half.
The Razorbacks got 33 points from its bench, including an 11-point night from guard Jemal Farmer, and six apiece from Stefan Welsh, Glenn Bryant and Julysses Nobles. Eleven Arkansas players scored, including guard Stephen Cox, who added the final touch to the lopsided win with a pair of free throws.
“I was very concerned coming into this, so I’m a little surprised with the score,” Pelphrey said after the game. “The score is not indicative of the two teams. We’re not that much better than them.”
