No. 12 LSU, riding 13-game home winning streak, hosts Arkansas

It’s back to work for the No. 12 LSU Tigers Saturday when they host Arkansas at 1 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

The game on Dale Brown Court matches the Tigers (15-1, 3-1 in the Southeastern Conference) against the Razorbacks (11-5, 1-3).

LSU defeated Florida in Gainesville on Wednesday night, 64-58, while Arkansas took care of Missouri, 87-43 in Fayetteville.

As of late afternoon, a limited number of tickets still remained at LSUtix.net for purchase. Tickets will go on sale at the upper concourse ticket windows of the Maravich Center at noon on Saturday.

The game will be televised on ESPN2 and can be heard locally on the LSU Sports Radio Network (BR flagship affiliate for Guaranty Media, Eagle 98.1 FM).

Darius Days had 20 points to lead LSU to the win on Wednesday with Eric Gaines getting 15 and Brandon Murray 10. Gaines stepped in as the starting point guard with Xavier Pinson out with an MCL strain and ran the offense. Junior Shareef O’Neal saw action as well scoring four points after both Efton Reid and Tari Eason got into extensive foul trouble.

Coach Will Wade said Friday that Pinson was “doubtful” for the game, but a final decision would be made Saturday morning.

Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman, a former LSU assistant, will be out after successful surgery to repair a full tendon tear in his left shoulder. Assistant coach Keith Smart, a Baton Rouge native and McKinley High graduate, is expected to serve as interim head coach. He joined the Razorbacks this past summer after 22 years coaching professionally.

The Razorbacks opened up 26-3 to start the game against Missouri in their 44-point win that broke a three-game losing streak. JD Notae leads the Razorbacks averaging 18.8 points a game. Chris Lykes is at 11.1 points, while Au’DIese Toney averages 10.6 and Davonte Davis 10.4 points.

LSU will try to extend its winning streak at home to 14 games.

LSU and Arkansas have split games on home courts the last two seasons with LSU winning, 78-71 in the 2021 SEC Tournament semifinals. Arkansas leads the all-time series, 38-34, but LSU has won 19-of-the-31 games in Baton Rouge.

This will be the final home game for LSU until Jan. 26 when LSU hosts Texas A&M. LSU will be on the road next week for games at Alabama (Jan. 19) and at Tennessee (22).