I noticed this during the game and meant to post that in the morning, but forgot. Then today’s Wally Hall column reminded me of this.
LSU played zone when they won the game at LSU, forcing Hogs to shoot 25 threes. Hogs went 4-25 that night,
Then on Tuesday, inexplicably LSU opened in man defense and Hogs promptly took LSU to the woodshed and win the first half by 24. LSU then came back in zone for the second half and actually won the second half 26-22.
Did LSU fail to watch the film of their win in Baton Rouge? Did someone pointed this out at halftime to Coach McMahon? Did McMahon outsmart himself thinking Hogs practiced for the game against a zone and he would surprise them with man? This is puzzling.
My guess is he saw how much trouble the Hogs were having with fouls and getting open looks at basket so he was going to try to put Hogs in hole with fouls and then let offensive shooting have to make up the difference.
The pressing defense without LSU getting any points earlier put Tigers behind 8 ball before they would regroup at half.
Definitely took too long to make an adjustment, we did figure out how to work the zone but this could have taken a different turn with an earlier adjustment by LSU. WPS
If the game had started in a similar fashion to the second half as you point out a quite different score might have evolved. For one thing, the crowd’s participation might have been less a factor, particularly if Arkansas’ slower pace had decreased their rhythm resulting in a lower FGM %. Of course, this is speculation and the Razorbacks won the game in a higher fashion than the score indicated. WPS!!
Maybe the referee crew was worried about catching their flight home. This was clearly the second straight game of allowing play to not be inhibited by close calls. The game with Baylor could quickly revert to the former pattern if the Razorbacks are sloppy in using their hands.
I think the game would have played out differently and would not have been decided in the first 10 minutes. I think Arkansas still wins. We were at home and a lot more talented. LSU has just one guard that can shoot threes. That is a recipe for road thumping.
You bet I think we win the game also no matter what defense they played, but there’s no guarantee that goes with that thinking. We played the first half as well as I’ve seen us play against a conference team in my opinion. Lots of work to do yet and need this win Saturday for a resume builder and recruiting tool. WPS
Probably doesn’t matter. Most likely thought they would need to generate some offense with defensive pressure. They need something to help an anemic offense. They scored 40 points. Most teams shoot better at home. That is most likely the reason they did not want to play zone in that arena.