By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU was dead on arrival Tuesday night, and its condition worsened.
No. 21 Arkansas took a 12-2 lead in less than five minutes of the game via six virtually uncontested layups. And that was about it as the Tigers lost their fifth of the last six, 91-62, to fall to 14-10 and 2-9 in the Southeastern Conference in front of a quiet crowd of about 5,000 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Razorbacks (18-6, 8-3 SEC) made 26 layups in all with 11 in the first half by five players and 15 more in the second half for the Tigers’ most embarrassing loss of an embarrassing season.
Arkansas dominated the Tigers, 30-16, in the paint in the first half and led by as many as 17 before a 42-27 advantage at the break. And LSU president Wade Rousse slipped out during halftime. He missed the Arkansas lead growing to 53-34 in the second half as a few boos could be heard.
And that became 72-42 on a dunk at the eight-minute mark. The Tigers were never closer than 15 in the second half and trailed by as many as 36. The final tally in the paint? A dominating, 64-34.
“Their rim protection was terrific,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “And ours was non-existent.”
McMahon did little as the Arkansas advantage steadily grew in the second half, seemingly to the height of the Ozarks, often just watching.
“You look at the rim protection,” he said. “We didn’t have any blocks around the rim.”
The closest LSU got in the first half after the early onslaught was by nine at 31-22 on a dunk by forward Robert Miller III with four minutes before halftime. But the Razorbacks responded with – you guessed it – a layup by Billy Richmond III nine seconds later and another one by Malique Ewin 45 seconds after that for a 35-22 lead.
Freshman five-star Darius Acuff Jr., the No. 1 point guard in America last year out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, via Detroit, led all scorers with 28 points. And 22 of those came off 11 layups, including seven in the second half.
“He gets all the way to the rim with his speed and quickness,” said McMahon, who offered Acuff a scholarship in July of 2023. “And his movement without the basketball. Their speed on the open floor led to a lot of easy layups.”
Arkansas shredded LSU’s defense with 21 fast break points to nine.
Meleek Thomas, a five-star shooting guard from Atlanta in Arkansas coach John Calipari’s No. 4 recruiting class, added 20 points, including six on layups. And forward Trevon Brazile had 14 with 12 rebounds, five blocks and four steals.
Amazingly, LSU outrebounded Arkansas, 43-36, but when you make layups like the Razorbacks did, who needs rebounds?
“We played really good,” Calipari said. “We’ve had other games where we really played bad. This was more about us than LSU. Our two-point field goal percentage is about 60 percent. That’s what we do.”
John Calipari discusses LSU after destroying it.https://t.co/zep0xzMyCv
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) February 11, 2026
Forward Marquel Sutton led the Tigers with 18 points and had six rebounds. Forward Pablo Tamba added 11 with seven rebounds, but he had four of LSU’s 14 turnovers. Center Michael Nwoko scored only three points with eight rebounds as he played just 18 minutes because of more chronic foul trouble. Miller scored 10.
“They came out physical and came out hot,” Sutton said. “We came out like we weren’t ready or weren’t prepared or something. They beat us to the dribble (on the layups) and with cuts and were being physical.”
And LSU never seemed very much into it, wilting from the gun.
“You could see people down on themselves,” Tamba said. “We have to play with more confidence. We know why we’re here and what we represent. We have to find the right mindset and right way to approach the game. We have to play like they did. They were hoop-in, and we’ve done that.”
LSU completed its homestand at 0-2 with a pair of double-digit losses and now heads to Tennessee (16-7, 6-4 SEC) on Saturday (5 p.m., SEC Network) and to Texas (15-9, 6-5 SEC) next Tuesday (8 p.m., SEC Network).
“I’m not sure it was confidence,” said McMahon, who also discounted the lack of energy observation. “I thought it was a lack of execution. Arkansas is terrific in half court. Their speed in the open floor is phenomenal.”
In the end, Calipari has elite SEC players and one of the most expensive rosters in the SEC via Name, Image & Likeness dollars. And McMahon, who has one of the cheapest rosters in the SEC, no longer does with junior point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. missing his eighth of 11 SEC games with a foot injury and junior forward Jalen Reed out for the season with an Achilles injury. And one more.
LSU’S MAX MACKINNON INJURED
One of LSU’s better surviving players – senior transfer guard/forward Max Mackinnon – left the game with a knee injury after 20 minutes. He scored just two points – 13 below his average.
“I don’t think it’s anything serious,” McMahon said. “We’ll evaluate it in the morning and see where he stands.”
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