By Otis Kirk

Arkansas dropped its SEC opener to LSU 60-57 on Wednesday night in Baton Rouge.

Both teams entered the game with 11-1 records. LSU held a 24-19 advantage at halftime and then was able to hold off the Razorbacks in the second half. The Razorbacks have 17 games remaining after the LSU loss and Eric Musselman talked about what the team can learn from this game.

"I think everybody understands how hard this league is and how many games come down to the last minute and a half," Musselman said. "We talked about that since we got together way early in the summer. So we just two guys with SEC experience.  So there’s going to be a lot of learning lessons for this team early on for sure.  Our ballclub tonight probably learned how hard it is to win on the road.  And LSU had a phenomenal crowd.  With no class being in I was actually surprised how good and how loud and how energetic there crowd was."

One of the differences in the game was Arkansas' bench was outscored 25-0. That was a stat that obviously didn't please Musselman.

"We went 8-deep," Musselman said. "Tried to put Jalen (Graham) in there and there was a charge. And I thought Joseph (Pinion) at one point.  We certainly would have liked productivity and in their defense, you also got to have some minutes to produce. We had some starters that had games that were very uncharacteristic of them tonight."

The game was tied 10 times and saw seven lead changes. Arkansas did get eight steals to six for LSU. 

"One thing we did do was a good job in creating steals," Musselman said. "We had eight steals to their six. And one of LSU’s defensive strengths is creating busts, steals and turnovers, and so from that aspect I thought we did a pretty decent job."

Davonte "Devo" Davis topped the Hogs with 16 points. Ricky Council IV and Jordan Walsh each had 13 points. Makhi Mitchell had eight points and Anthony Black seven. Mitchell led the Hogs with 12 rebounds while Walsh added nine. Black had eight while Davis and Council each finished with six. Black also had four assists.

Former Razorback Justice Hill had two points, a pair of rebounds and one assist. Trae Hannibal led all scorers with 19 while Derek Fountain contributed 14.

Arkansas shot 37 percent from the field, 16 percent from deep and hit half its 10 free throw attempts. 

Arkansas (11-2, 0-1) will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 4, at 7:30 when it plays host to Missouri in Bud Walton Arena. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.