FAYETTEVILLE — A lot of things have gone wrong for the University of Arkansas men’s basketball team this season.
One thing that went right was Senior Night.
In the final home game of the season, the Razorbacks beat LSU 94-83 on Wednesday night at Walton Arena.
Immediately after the game, Arkansas’ seniors were honored in a brief ceremony.
“It’s probably hard to go out there and take pictures smiling if you’re a competitor,” Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman said. “So you want to win. I’m happy that the team played well in Bud Walton.”
Arkansas (15-15, 6-11 SEC) earned a season split with LSU (16-14, 8-9) after the Tigers won the teams’ first game 95-74 in Baton Rouge on Feb. 3.
“Credit to Arkansas, they played very well on their Senior Night,” Tigers Coach Matt McMahon said on LSU’s postgame radio show. “They were the better team.”
Musselman used an eight-man rotation that featured six seniors — guards Khalif Battle, El Ellis, Davonte Davis and Jeremiah Davenport along with big men Makhi Mitchell, Chandler Lawson and Jeremiah Davenport — along with junior guard Tramon Mark and sophomore forward Trevon Brazile.
The seniors combined for 79 points, 31 rebounds, 12 assists, 8 steals and 7 blocked shots.
“Them beating us, we knew coming in for the seniors and for the last game, it was a get-back game,” said Davenport, who had 5 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. “We came out here with a great attitude.”
Battle, who led the Razorbacks with 29 points, is a fifth-year graduate transfer, but he still has another season of eligibility remaining.
“I’m a Razorback. I’m right here,” Battle said when asked about his plans for next season. “I’m a Razorback. Ain’t nothing changed. I’m a Razorback until the end.”
Musselman was asked about Battle’s indication he plans to be back at Arkansas next season.
“I think with all players, you play the season out and you see how it unwinds, so it would be unfair for me to speculate either way,” Musselman said. “I do think he’s really happy playing at Arkansas. We’re happy with the way that he’s progressed.
“The way that he’s evolved as the season’s gone on. He’s done a great job of buying in, and I think that’s why you see the productivity continue to improve.
“I know that he enjoys playing here and playing in [the Razorbacks’] system, but it’s whenever he makes a decision or whatever’s on him.”
Battle has scored 141 points the past four games, the most by an SEC player in 20 seasons, according to the SEC Network. He surpassed Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks, who had 134 points in a four-game stretch in 2009, the SEC Network posted on social media.
Battle had the ball in his hands in the final seconds, but dribbled out the clock rather than trying to score more than 30 points for the fourth consecutive game after having 42 against Missouri, 36 against Vanderbilt and 34 at Kentucky.
“I ain’t going to show up [LSU] when we already had ’em,” Battle said. “We already had won, and 30 points don’t mean nothing, you know what I’m saying?
“The win is more important. Years from now, nobody’s going to remember, ‘Oh, K.B. had 29 against LSU on Senior Night.’ Nobody’s going to remember that. They’re going to remember we won.”
Battle hit 7 of 14 shots, including 2 of 6 three-pointers, and made 13 of 14 free throws.
“There’s not many players in the history of the SEC that have gone on a scoring spurt like K.B. has,” Musselman said. “And he’s defending better, he’s defensive rebounding better.”
Battle had 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a career-high 3 blocked shots.
“That’s cool, for sure,” Battle said of the blocked shots. “I think the team was more hyped than I was. I was just worried about us winning the game.
“I think I’m an all-around basketball player. I know people say things about my defense. … But people that really watch, I think they’ll see that I give value on the defensive end and I take a lot of pride in it.”
Mitchell had 19 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
“Makhi was dominant inside,” Musselman said.
Mitchell hit 8 of 10 shots and 3 of 4 free throws. Along with Lawson, Mitchell helped hold LSU 7-0 senior Will Baker to 3 points on 1-of-4 shooting after he burned the Razorbacks with 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting in last month’s game.
“We had a game plan to try to stop Will Baker,” Musselman said. “Obviously he hurt us in the last game.
“We changed up our coverages, and I thought we did a great job taking him out of the game.”
The Razorbacks finished the season 11-6 in games at Walton Arena, including 4-5 in SEC games.
LSU has lost five consecutive games at Walton Arena. It last won at Arkansas in 2019, 94-88 in overtime.
Ellis had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Mark had 9 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, and Lawson had 7 points and 2 steals.
Senior guard Jordan Wright led LSU with 24 points and sophomore guard Tyrell Ward added 19.
The Razorbacks shot 60.8% from the field (31 of 51) and hit 27 of 33 free throws.
LSU shot 44.8% (30 of 67) and hit 18 of 26 free throws.
“I thought they were just relentless, really hurt us on some ball screens,” McMahon said. “In a game where we got 16 more shot attempts than they did, they did a much better job finishing at the basket.”
The Razorbacks took the lead for good with 16:35 left in the first half when Ellis hit a jumper to put them up 8-7.
Arkansas was ahead 42-33 at halftime and Lawson’s three-point play pushed their lead to 49-37 with 18:37 left.
LSU pulled within 60-56 on a free throw by Trae Hannibal with 11:34 left, but the Razorbacks responded with a 7-0 run — including two free throws and a layup by Mitchell and a three-pointer by Battle — to move ahead 67-56.
LSU didn’t pull closer than five points the rest of the game, and the Razorbacks pushed their lead to 80-66.
“Every time we got [close] in the second half, they had a great response,” McMahon said.
Arkansas finished with 10 blocked shots, while LSU didn’t have any.
“In an SEC game, that’s hard to do, and we can get better at that, too,” Musselman said. “I thought they had a couple layups where we didn’t go vertical, so that’s something we want to keep getting better at.”
Musselman said he liked Wednesday night’s playing rotation.
“Sometimes during the course of the season, you’re constantly tinkering,” Musselman said. “If you pick up the box score from the last time we played LSU, it’s a much different look than we were then.
“I’ve settled in where guys are understanding roles, expectations.”
