Arkansas Rallies Late to Edge LSU 85-81 Behind Acuff, Brazile Heroics
FAYETTEVILLE - It wasn’t always pretty, and for long stretches it looked like LSU might steal one on the road. But when it mattered most, Arkansas found its rhythm-and its closer.
The Razorbacks, outworked for much of the game, flipped the switch down the stretch, hitting 11 of their final 12 shots to storm past LSU for an 85-81 win at Bud Walton Arena on Saturday night.
The catalyst? Freshman guard Darius Acuff, who turned a quiet first half into a statement finish. But it wasn’t just his scoring that sealed the deal-it was his poise and vision in crunch time.
With Arkansas clinging to an 81-79 lead and under a minute to play, LSU sent a double-team at Acuff. The freshman didn’t flinch.
Instead, he zipped a pass to the left wing, finding senior Trevon Brazile wide open. Brazile, who hadn’t hit a three all game, calmly knocked it down to stretch the lead to five with 49 seconds left-a dagger in every sense.
“Like the last play, where it was [Acuff], I told TB, ‘Throw the dagger. It's coming to you,’” head coach John Calipari said.
“You knew they were going to go at Darius-and they did. He made the right read.”
Brazile, who finished with 7 points on 3-of-6 shooting, added a team-high 7 rebounds (6 defensive) and 3 steals. One of those steals led directly to a layup in the first half, giving Arkansas its first lead at 9-8. But it was his clutch triple that Razorback fans will remember most.
“I would’ve been fine with [Acuff] taking the shot-he was on fire,” Brazile said. “But that just shows the trust we have in each other. He believed in me to take that shot, and I knocked it down.”
LSU Wins the Hustle Stats, But Arkansas Wins the Game
Despite the loss, LSU did a lot of things right-particularly on the glass and in the paint. The Tigers outrebounded Arkansas 36-28, including a 13-8 edge on the offensive boards. That turned into a 19-8 advantage in second-chance points and a 42-36 margin in the paint.
“We did a couple of things well to give ourselves a chance,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “I loved our effort on the glass, and the points in the paint were big for us.”
What LSU did better than Arkansas in effort stats, though, the Razorbacks made up for with timely execution and shot-making late.
Fastbreaks Dry Up for Razorbacks
Arkansas had been feasting in transition during recent home wins over South Carolina and Vanderbilt, but LSU managed to slow that down. The Hogs finished with just 16 fastbreak points-their lowest total since scoring 13 in a loss at Auburn earlier this month.
That forced Arkansas into more halfcourt sets, where they leaned heavily on Acuff and Meleek Thomas to create offense down the stretch.
Free Throw Woes Nearly Cost Arkansas
If there’s one stat that jumps off the page, it’s this: Arkansas shot just 7-of-18 from the free-throw line-an abysmal 38.9%. That’s a season low for a team that entered the game hitting nearly 76% from the stripe.
It wasn’t just one player, either. Acuff went 1-for-4.
Wagner, Brazile, Knox, and Nick Pringle combined to go 2-for-10. Only Billy Richmond shot over 50%, going 3-for-4.
The struggles came at key moments, too. In the final minute, Acuff missed two free throws with Arkansas up 84-81. He got another chance with 6.3 seconds left and hit 1-of-2 to finally put the game out of reach.
“I just told them, ‘We about to go home,’” Acuff said, laughing during a postgame interview. “They were like, ‘Can you make a free throw?’
I missed two, so I had to make one. Should’ve made the other, but it’s all good.”
Acuff Sits Early, Finishes Strong
It wasn’t a wire-to-wire performance for Acuff. In fact, he spent a significant chunk of the first half on the bench as Calipari searched for the right lineup mix. Acuff came out at the 13:23 mark with Arkansas trailing 16-11 and didn’t return until just over eight minutes remained in the half.
Still, he managed 7 points in the first half and was the engine of Arkansas’ late-game surge. He finished with 1 assist, 1 rebound, and 1 steal in the opening 20 minutes.
Karter Knox’s Hustle Fuels Key Possession
One of Arkansas’ grittiest moments came midway through the first half, when it took four shot attempts to finally tie the game at 18-all. The play didn’t end with a Karter Knox bucket, but it was all about his effort.
Knox grabbed two offensive rebounds in the sequence and kept a third ball alive. His hustle eventually led to a corner three by Wagner-his second attempt from the same spot after a miss seconds earlier.
“Give that basket to Karter Knox,” said SEC Network analyst Joe Kleine. “He kept three balls alive in that possession. Great hustle.”
LSU’s Cold First Half from Deep Doesn’t Last
LSU took a 37-33 lead into the locker room despite going 0-for-8 from three in the first half. They even missed a 40-foot heave from Dedan Thomas that hit the backboard and rim but wasn’t counted as an official attempt.
That drought didn’t last long. Max Mackinnon and Pablo Tamba hit early threes after the break to push LSU’s lead to 43-37.
Arkansas, meanwhile, stayed true to its identity as the SEC’s top three-point shooting team. The Razorbacks went 4-for-12 from deep in the first half and finished 10-for-22 (45.5%). Meleek Thomas added to his scorching SEC shooting numbers, going 2-for-3 from beyond the arc to improve to 19-of-35 (54.3%) in conference play.
Broadcast Shake-Up
Due to weather concerns, the SEC Network’s original broadcast crew was replaced late in the week. Brett Dolan and Joe Kleine stepped in and called their third Arkansas game together this season. Dolan, who works in the Razorbacks’ broadcast services department, has now called six Arkansas games this year.
Bottom Line: Arkansas didn’t dominate this game-they survived it. They got beat on the boards, struggled mightily from the free-throw line, and let LSU hang around far longer than they should have. But when it came time to close, the Razorbacks leaned on their freshman phenom and their veteran forward to make the plays that mattered.
If this group can tighten up the free throws and continue to find clutch shot-making, they’ll be a tough out come March.