LSU Struggles to Find Its Footing in Blowout Loss to No. 21 Arkansas
Tuesday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center wasn’t just a tough outing for LSU - it was a full-on unraveling. The Tigers were outmatched from the opening tip, falling 91-62 to No. 21 Arkansas in a game that exposed both their physical limitations and, perhaps more concerning, their shaken confidence.
Let’s start with the numbers, because they tell a pretty clear story. LSU shot a season-low 30.9% from the field and an even more painful 14.3% from beyond the arc.
That’s not just cold - that’s ice age levels of offensive futility. And while Arkansas deserves credit for bringing the heat defensively, tying their season-high with 10 blocks, LSU missed far too many shots they’d usually expect to convert, especially around the rim.
The Tigers never led and trailed by as much as 36 points. The game felt out of reach early, and the home crowd’s frustration only grew as LSU continued to come up empty on looks near the basket.
Forward Pablo Tamba, who put up 11 points and seven rebounds, spoke candidly about the team’s mindset.
“It’s obviously disappointing because we work a lot on our game,” Tamba said. “But I think it was a thing of confidence today… At their place, we were much more aggressive and confident in that area. And I think that’s what was missing today.”
He’s referring to the Tigers’ previous matchup with Arkansas back on Jan. 24 - a much tighter contest that ended in an 85-81 road loss. That night, LSU had starting point guard Dedan Thomas in the lineup.
This time around, Thomas was sidelined with a lingering left foot injury, and his absence was felt. Without their floor general, LSU struggled to initiate offense and looked disjointed in half-court sets.
Marquel Sutton did his best to keep LSU afloat, leading the team with 18 points and six boards. But even his efforts couldn’t stem the tide against a Razorbacks team that came in locked in and left no doubt.
Asked what LSU needs to fix moving forward, both Tamba and Sutton pointed to something that doesn’t show up in the box score: belief.
“I think we’ve got to improve the most in our confidence,” Tamba said. “We’ve had a couple guys go down throughout the season, and that kind of affected us… You can see on the court guys kind of doubt themselves - starting with me.
We’ve done it before, and I know we can do it again. We just have to find the right mindset.”
Sutton echoed the sentiment but added another key piece: urgency.
“We’ve got to come out with more urgency,” he said. “Whenever they make a run or whatever, we can’t lay down. We gotta fight back.”
That lack of fight - or perhaps the inability to sustain it - was one of the more glaring issues in this game. Arkansas didn’t just win; they dictated every phase. They were quicker to loose balls, more aggressive in transition, and simply more connected on both ends.
Head coach Matt McMahon, now in his fourth year at the helm, was asked about his players’ comments regarding confidence. While he didn’t dismiss the idea entirely, he leaned more toward execution as the root of the problem.
“I’m not sure that it’s confidence,” McMahon said. “I think it was [Arkansas’] rim protection, their ability to fly around defensively and make it really difficult on us to score… I’ve got to do a better job getting us into some better positions to get high-percentage shots that we can shoot with confidence.”
McMahon didn’t sugarcoat it - LSU’s execution simply wasn’t good enough to compete with one of the SEC’s top teams. And he’s right.
This wasn’t just a bad shooting night. It was a breakdown in ball movement, spacing, and finishing - all the things that separate a competitive team from one that gets run out of its own gym.
Now, with the schedule not getting any easier, LSU has to regroup quickly. They’ll head to Knoxville on Saturday to face a tough Tennessee squad. At 14-10 overall and just 2-9 in SEC play, the Tigers are at a crossroads.
The talent is there in flashes. The effort, at times, is evident.
But if LSU wants to turn things around down the stretch, it’s going to take more than just X’s and O’s. It’s going to take a team that believes in itself again - one that plays with purpose, urgency, and the kind of edge that’s been missing in games like this.
Because Arkansas didn’t just beat LSU. They showed them what a confident, connected team looks like. Now the Tigers have to decide how they’ll respond.