The Arkansas Razorbacks are looking to keep their Southeastern Conference championship hopes alive with a win over LSU Tigers.
Arkansas (23-6, 12-4) hosts the Tigers for a 9:00 p.m. ET tip-off on Wednesday. Arkansas is tied for second with Kentucky and Tennessee, all of whom are one game behind Auburn.
LSU (20-9, 8-8) won its first 12 games en route to a 15-1 start only to fall off as conference play began. What’s impressive is they’ve done all this without Illinois transfer Adam Miller, who suffered a season-ending knee surgery prior to the season.
The line opened at Arkansas -5.5 with an over/under of 141. The line hasn’t changed, but the over/under has dipped to 139.5 as of this writing.
Arkansas pushin’ P(ace)
The Razorbacks really like to get out and run. The Hogs are 23rd in the country in scoring, averaging 77.4 points per game. Though they are average at conversion, hitting 44.3% of shots, and are one of the worst 3-point shooting teams, hitting 31.2% from beyond the arc — 305th nationally.
They are the 32nd rebounding team, pulling in 35.7 boards per game. Defensively, they hold teams to 67.6 points per game (135th nationally) but are impressively 50th in efficiency, forcing teams to shoot 40.9%.
Guard JD Notae is leading the team in scoring and passing with 19.1 points and 3.6 assists per game. Jaylin Williams, a 6-foot-10 forward, is nearly averaging a double-double at 10.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.
They are half of the four scoring in double figures. Joining them are Stanley Umude (11.2 ppg) and Au’Diese Toney (10.1 ppg).
Protect and defend
The Tigers have been great on the defensive end of the court, a stark contrast from their counterparts. LSU is 23rd nationally, allowing 61.9 points per game. They’re strong in defensive efficiency, too, forcing teams to shoot 38.3% from the field (eighth-best) and 27.9% on 3-pointer (fifth-best).
LSU is comfortable going nine or ten deep in their rotations, too. That’ll help against the pace Arkansas likes to play with. But the key is to limit turnovers and not surrender easy buckets.
Four players average double figures, led by forwards Tari Eason (16.1 points per game) and Darius Days (13.1 ppg). The other two are guards, Xavier Pinson (10.3 ppg) and Brandon Murray (10.0 ppg). Pinson also leads the team at 4.6 assists per game.
Betting Prediction
Both teams have impressed against the oddsmakers this season. LSU is 18-11 against the spread, though 5-8 since its Jan. 15 meeting against Arkansas.
The Razorbacks are 18-10-1 against the spread and had covered nine straight before a push against Kentucky on Saturday. Arkansas is a little better playing with a quicker pace. It is 16-13 on over/unders, whereas LSU is 10-19.
Arkansas should win outright. They’ve created a wild environment since Eric Musselman took over and are 16-1 at home this season, while LSU is 3-7 in true road games. With a conference title on the line and the homecourt advantage, Arkansas should cover the 5.5 points.
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