SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: Arkansas at LSU

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Arkansas visits LSU on Wednesday in a key SEC basketball matchup. Look inside for a preview of the game along with a prediction of the game’s final score.

By 14Powers Hoops

Team Statistical Comparison

	FG%	3PT%	FT%	ORB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
Arkansas	0.445	0.312	0.744	99	446	168	123	63	171
Arkansas OPP	0.391	0.224	0.654	132	480	121	77	29	236
LSU	0.499	0.327	0.757	143	504	178	93	61	180
LSU OPP	0.398	0.340	0.702	143	424	162	88	34	183

Statistical Leaders

Arkansas Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Mason Jones	19.5	69	70	26
Isaiah Joe	17.4	70	36	50
Jimmy Whitt Jr.	13.4	77	20	0
Desi Sills	10.0	48	21	13
Adrio Bailey	6.5	32	17	4
Jalen Harris	4.7	17	20	7
Reggie Chaney	3.4	15	4	0
Jeantal Cylla	1.3	7	1	1

Arkansas Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Mason Jones	13	61	74	6.2
Jimmy Whitt Jr.	17	54	71	5.5
Isaiah Joe	10	51	61	4.7
Adrio Bailey	18	42	60	4.6
Reggie Chaney	10	28	38	3.8
Desi Sills	7	33	40	3.1
Jalen Harris	4	30	34	2.6
Jeantal Cylla	4	15	19	1.6

LSU Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Skylar Mays	15.9	73	42	19
Emmitt Williams	13.5	70	31	4
Trendon Watford	12.8	62	34	8
Darius Days	12.7	63	23	16
Javonte Smart	11.0	51	23	18
Charles Manning Jr.	8.5	45	12	8
James Bishop	3.4	13	6	5
Aundre Hyatt	1.8	8	2	5

LSU Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Darius Days	36	68	104	8.0
Emmitt Williams	33	59	92	7.1
Trendon Watford	25	56	81	6.2
Skylar Mays	7	54	61	4.7
Javonte Smart	9	36	45	3.5
Charles Manning Jr.	8	33	41	3.2
Aundre Hyatt	5	19	24	1.8
James Bishop	1	2	3	0.3

NCAA RPI

Arkansas: 24

LSU: 30

Arkansas Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Jeantal Cylla	F	6′-7″	215	SR	Lake Worth, FL
1	Isaiah Joe	G	6′-5″	180	SO	Fort Smith, AR
2	Adrio Bailey	F	6′-6″	217	SR	Clarence, LA
3	Desi Sills	G	6′-1″	196	SO	Jonesboro, AR
5	Jalen Harris	G	6′-2″	166	JR	Wilson, NC
11	JD Notae	G	6′-2″	185	JR	Covington, GA
12	Ty Stevens	G	6′-2″	180	JR	Republic, MO
13	Emeka Obukwelu	F	6′-8″	222	JR	Plano, TX
15	Mason Jones	G	6′-5″	200	JR	Desoto, TX
22	Abayomi Iyiola	F	6′-9″	210	JR	Atlanta, GA
23	Connor Vanover	F	7′-3″	230	SO	Little Rock, AR
24	Ethan Henderson	F	6′-8″	210	SO	Little Rock, AR
33	Jimmy Whitt Jr.	G	6′-3″	175	SR	Columbia, MO
35	Reggie Chaney	F	6′-8″	222	SO	Tulsa, OK

LSU Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Darius Days	F	6′-6″	240	SO	Raleigh, FL
1	Javonte Smart	G	6′-4″	205	SO	Baton Rouge, LA
2	Trendon Watford	F	6′-9″	235	FR	Birmingham, AL
3	Parker Edwards	G	6′-3″	190	SO	Mandeville, LA
4	Skylar Mays	G	6′-4″	205	SR	Baton Rouge, LA
5	Emmitt Williams	F	6′-6″	230	SO	Fort Myers, FL
10	James Bishop	G	6′-2″	190	FR	Baltimore, MD
11	Charles Manning Jr.	G	6′-5″	200	JR	Riverhead, NY
12	Marshall Graves	G	6′-4″	195	SR	Ponchatoula, LA
14	Marlon Taylor	G	6′-5″	210	SR	Mount Vernon, NY
15	Aundre Hyatt	F	6′-4″	225	FR	Bronx, NY
20	Caleb Starks	G	6′-3″	205	JR	Lafayette, LA
21	Courtese Cooper	F	6′-9″	220	SO	Elgin, IL
24	Deshawn Thomas	C	6′-9″	250	JR	Dentsville, SC

Scouting Report

The LSU Tigers (9-4, 1-0 SEC) opened their conference schedule on Saturday with a 78-64 win at Tennessee. In that game the Tigers led by just 1 point at the half but dominated the second half to get a fine, resume building road win. LSU sophomore guard Javonte Smart led the Tigers in scoring with 21 points. Smart hit of 5 of 9 threes, three of those came in the first half. The difference in this game wasn’t 3-point shooting. Tennessee was 13 of 26 from three while the Tigers were 10 of 21. However, the Vols had just three points at the line, while LSU had 12. LSU also out-shot the Vols from the field hitting on 46% to Tennessee’s 40%. For the season LSU is third in the league in scoring offense. The Tigers are No. 1 in the conference in field goal accuracy making almost 50% of them. LSU also rebounds well and has a + 6.2 rebounding margin over its opponents, fourth best in the SEC. Sophomore forward Darius Days leads the Tigers in rebounding (8.0 rpg). He’s also fifth in the SEC in rebounding.

The Arkansas Razorbacks (12-1, 1-0 SEC) opened their SEC slate with a 69-59 home win over Texas A&M. Arkansas led that game 42-33 at the half and then was able to fend off a threat from the Aggies who narrowed that lead to two points with nine minutes to go in the game. Guard Isaiah Joe and Mason Jones co-led the Razorbacks in scoring, each with 17 points. Jones (19.5) and Joe (17.4) so far are the two leading scorers for Arkansas this season. Joe is third in the SEC in 3-point shooting, making 35% of his attempts. The Hogs are an outstanding free throw shooting team, making over 74% of them. It’s been the Razorbacks defense that has likely been the key to the Hogs winning 12 games this early. Arkansas is third in scoring defense (59.8 ppg). The Hogs are first in 3-point shooting defense (22.3%), first in steals (9.6 spg), fourth in blocked shots (4.9 bpg) and fifth in field goal defense (39.1%).

This is one of the better games of the week. LSU looks like they’ve played a better schedule. Arkansas does have wins over Indiana and Georgia Tech. LSU is not invincible, they have a home loss to East Tennessee State. I call that a fluke holiday loss. LSU probably wins this game at home.

Arkansas-LSU Prediction

LSU 83, Arkansas 78