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Senior success: Things go right in UA win | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

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Senior success: Things go right in UA win | Arkansas Democrat Gazette


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.

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“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.

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“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.

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“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?

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“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.

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“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.

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“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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.”

    Arkansas guard Khalif Battle goes up for a layup during the second half Wednesday against LSU at Walton Arena in Fayetteville. Battle scored 29 points as the Razorbacks defeated the Tigers 94-83 to improve to 15-15 overall and 6-11 in the SEC. More photos at arkansasonline.com/37hogsatlsu/ (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)
 
 



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Arkansas

Arkansas Storm Team Blog: 7th driest year on record to date

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Arkansas Storm Team Blog: 7th driest year on record to date


It’s been a bone-dry year in Arkansas. It’s now the 7th driest year on record in Little Rock since record-keeping began in 1875, as of April 20.

24 days so far this year in Little Rock have received measurable rainfall. 12 days received a trace amount of rain, meaning there were no rainfall measurements to report (it was too little to record), as it was just a sprinkle or a few spits.

Only 4 days have received an inch or more of rain so far this year. Those occurred on April 4, March 7, February 14, and January 24. January’s “rain” was really winter precipitation.

April is usually the rainiest month of the year in Arkansas. In Little Rock, April on average receives 5.59 inches of rainfall. So far this April, as of April 20, Little Rock has only recorded 1.17″ of rain for the month.

The rainfall deficit over the last 6 months is well over a foot for much of Arkansas, including Little Rock, North Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and Harrison.

Spring is the rainy season, and summer is the dry season. If rain isn’t recorded soon, the drought will persist into the summer. In fact, the latest seasonal drought outlook shows that while some areas of Arkansas could see improvements, the drought continues into July.

To fully end the drought, parts of central and northeast Arkansas need more than 25 inches of rain over the next 3 months. Parts of northwest Arkansas need between 15 and 20 inches of rain over the next 3 months. The rest of the state needs between 20 and 25 inches of rain over the next 3 months. All of this rain would need to be received slowly, not all at one time.

The odds of receiving this much rain slowly over the next 3 months are very low.

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Arkansas Lottery Cash 3, Cash 4 winning numbers for April 19, 2026

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The Arkansas Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at Sunday, April 19, 2026 results for each game:

Winning Cash 3 numbers from April 19 drawing

Evening: 5-3-2

Check Cash 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Cash 4 numbers from April 19 drawing

Evening: 7-5-4-8

Check Cash 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Natural State Jackpot numbers from April 19 drawing

02-07-17-20-23

Check Natural State Jackpot payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from April 19 drawing

32-42-52-53-55, Bonus: 05

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Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Arkansas Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
  • Cash 3 Midday: 12:59 p.m. CT daily except Sunday.
  • Cash 3 Evening: 6:59 p.m. CT daily.
  • Cash 4 Midday: 12:59 p.m. CT daily except Sunday.
  • Cash 4 Evening: 6:59 p.m. CT daily.
  • Lucky For Life: 9:30 p.m. CT daily.
  • Natural State Jackpot: 8 p.m. CT daily except Sunday.
  • LOTTO: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by an Arkansas editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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Central Arkansas council hands out 300 free produce bags at Saline County fresh market

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Central Arkansas council hands out 300 free produce bags at Saline County fresh market


Saline County residents got a fresh boost earlier today when the Central Arkansas Development Council hosted its third Fresh Market event in the county, handing out about 300 bags of fresh produce free of charge.

The council, described as the largest community action agency in Arkansas, said the event is part of its ongoing effort to address food insecurity in the state and expand access to healthy food options.

“What we’re here to do is we’re here to be what our community needs us to be,” Randy Morris, CEO of Central Arkansas Development Council, said. “We are here to serve our mission, which is to alleviate the causes and conditions of poverty, to help vulnerable populations achieve their potential and to build strong communities in Arkansas through community action.”

The council also said it was rewarded funds by the government to host an emergency food drive that will happen soon.

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