TAMPA, Fla. - The last game between Arkansas Basketball and LSU would have been too close for the Razorbacks to rest. At the SEC tournament on Friday, No. 4 seed Arkansas dominated No. 5 seed LSU in the second half to a 79-67 quarterfinal victory.
Arkansas (25-7) advances to face No. 8 seed Texas A&M in the semifinals Saturday (afternoon CT, ESPN). The Aggies bothered to forward top seed Auburn on Friday.
After the first half for both offenses, in which neither shot better than 17%, Arkansas went free at halftime. The Razorbacks put together a 19-0 run that started late in the first half and continued, while the defense held LSU (22-11) in a 0-for-4 start.
A key part of that run was JD Notte, who played 12 minutes after getting two early fouls in the first half. He came back in the second half to score 12 of his 17 points.
In the last meeting with LSU, LSU dominated Arkansas on the offensive Glass, but Arkansas made sure it didn't happen again. The Razorbacks captured 14 of LSU's six offensive rebels on their way to advance the Tigers 41–27.
Tony returns with a vengeance
Audience Tony was a game-time decision when he was last played at LSU by the Razorbacks after missing him with an ankle injury in Arkansas' final game. Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said on a pre-game radio broadcast that Tony's ankle began to improve early in the week, and he was ready to go.
Tony almost single-handedly kept Arkansas in the game in the first half. He had almost half the points of Arkansas in the first 20 minutes and tied Jaylin Williams with a team-high six rebounds.
Tony ended two droughts of the first half, the first with a 3-pointer, 0-for-7 to start the game after the two teams combined. Later, with Notte sitting, Arkansas went more than nine minutes without a field goal. Tony finally ended the drought with a jumper. He finished with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Chris Lykes stands out
Guard Chris Lykes has been inconsistent as a shooter this season, but he continues his upward trend.
In 29 minutes against LSU, Lykes shot 5 of 9 and scored 18 points. He was invaluable to Arkansas in the second half, scoring seven straight points at one point to help the Razorbacks maintain their big lead late into the second half.
The defense remains
The Arkansas defense was back in its usual form after a poor showing against Tennessee in the final of the regular season. In addition to keeping LSU without a field goal for nearly five minutes to start the second half, Arkansas contained the Tigers' leading scorer well.
Tari Easan leads the Tigers with 17 points per game. He got into some bad trouble early on and played 12 minutes in the first half, and Arkansas restricted him to two points. he finished
LSU's defense also had answers for the Arkansas shooters, at least until the second half. Notte broke in the second half and Jaylin Williams, who was 0-for-4 in the first half, finished 4-for-10 with 15 points.