Rebounding critical for LSU and Arkansas in SEC matchup
by January 12, 2011 8:11 am 67 views
story by College Sports Matchups Wire Services
THE STORY: LSU won its SEC opener for the first time in five years against Auburn on Saturday thanks to a historic first-half defensive effort. The Tigers entered their conference opener with little momentum, having lost two straight and four of their previous five contests.
But LSU held Auburn to a conference-record six points in the first half then hung on for a 62-55 road win. Now comes the hard part: following that up with a win over Arkansas, which has won eight of its last 10 and knows a thing or two about good defense.
Arkansas ranks 20th in the nation in field goal percentage defense and first in the country in blocks (7.6). The Razorbacks, who beat Tennessee 68-65 on Saturday, will try to force the Tigers’ young backcourt into making mistakes. Complicating matters for LSU are injuries to G Ralston Turner (foot) and F Storm Warren (Achilles).
ABOUT LSU (9-7): LSU continued its up-and-down season with a nice win over Auburn. The victory was a confidence booster for a team that finished 2-14 in the SEC a season ago. Freshman Matt Derenbecker had 15 points and eight rebounds in place of Turner, who is expected to miss a couple weeks. And with Warren hurting, junior forward Garrett Green continued his strong play with 18 points in a season-high 29 minutes.
It wasn’t all good, though. The Tigers nearly let a 31-point lead slip away thanks to a 5 ½ minutes stretch that featured six missed field goals and five turnovers. Lack of ball security has been a reoccurring theme for LSU. The Tigers are ranked 213th in turnover margin (minus-0.5).
ABOUT ARKANSAS (11-3): The Razorbacks bounced back from the worst loss of coach John Pelphrey’s career – a 33-point defeat to then-No. 12 Texas – with a win over Tennessee in their SEC opener. Granted, the victory wasn’t as impressive as it may have been in years’ past since it came against a struggling team playing without its coach (Bruce Pearl began an eight-game conference suspension for recruiting violations).
The Razorbacks got a nice effort from Marshawn Powell, who scored 14 points in just his second start of the season. Powell, a preseason All-SEC selection, missed the beginning of the season while recovering from a broken foot. One of the better 3-point shooting teams, Arkansas shot 46 percent from beyond the arc (6 of 13). Junior guard Rotnei Clarke, the team’s leading scorer (14.3 points) and a 42 percent 3-point shooter hit 4-of-6 attempts and finished with 15 points.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’s NOT: Clarke is shooting 49 percent (16 of 33) from beyond the arc in his last five games. Junior G Jeff Peterson has reached double figures just twice in his last nine games. LSU: Derenbecker has doubled his season average of the last four games (10.0 points). Sophomore G Aaron Dotson is shooting just 20 percent (6 of 30) over his last seven contests.
KEY STATISTIC: The Tigers average 14.5 turnovers. The Razorbacks, meanwhile, are 14th in the nation in steals (9.7).
SEASON SERIES: LSU has won nine of the last 14 meetings. The teams split the season series in 2009-10 with winning the second matchup 65-54 on Feb. 24.
LOOKING AHEAD: This is one of two home games in the month of January for the Tigers.They also host Ole Miss on Jan. 22. Four of Auburn’s next six games are on the road.
LAST WORD: While the Razorbacks have the defensive edge, they struggle on the boards. Arkansas was outrebounded by 14 in the win over the Volunteers. The Razorbacks’ minus -2.8 rebounding margin ranks 268th in the nation. The Tigers’ are plus 1.9 in rebounding margin.