By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – After losing four of its last five SEC games including three straight defeats, LSU’s men’s basketball team has been desperately trying to find a winning recipe.
As it turned out, relying on a Baker and a Cook was more than enough to produce a successful Saturday lunchtime pig roast in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Smooth-shooting 7-foot lefty forward Will Baker scored 25 points and point guard Jalen Cook added 20 in a sorely needed 95-74 LSU victory over visiting Arkansas.
Baker immediately stuck the Razorbacks in the oven by draining 3 3-pointers and scoring 13 points in a 3:40 stretch of the Tigers’ 22-9 first-half scoring run that produced a 45-30 halftime lead.
“The last two of three games I got in foul trouble and takes me out of it because you have to stay locked in on the bench to be ready in the second half,” said Baker, who finished 9 of 11 from the field, including 4 of 5 3-pointers. “Staying out of foul trouble (vs. Arkansas) and the looks my teammates got me when I was open got me in rhythm.”
It’s not like the Razorbacks didn’t know about Baker’s 3-point shooting capability, especially stepping back after screening.
“We had a game plan for that because we knew that when he (Baker) would set a screen, the big would have to come help,” said Arkansas forward Jalen Graham, a grad transfer from Arizona State who scored 18 points. “So, we got someone to stunt but he was just making shots. He was just hot, man.”
Though LSU head coach Matt McMahon chose not to start Cook after nine straight starts – “The ultimate goal is for us to find ways to win and for each player to perform at their very best,” McMahon said – a more settled Cook scored 15 of his 20 points in the Tigers’ 50-point second half when LSU’s lead vacillated most of the time between 19 to 25 points.
“I wanted to come in and create a spark on both ends of the floor, just get all my teammates the ball,” said Cook, who hit 5 of 8 shots including 3 of 5 3’s.
It was the Tigers’ second-highest-scoring game of the season behind the 106-60 season opening win over Mississippi Valley State. It also was the most points LSU scored in an SEC game since a 104-80 victory over Auburn in February 2021.
For the first time this season, LSU shot better than 50 percent from the field (29 of 53, 54.7 percent, 50 percent in 3-pointers (12 of 23, 52.2 percent), and 80 percent from the free throw line (25 of 28 for a season-high 89.3 percent).
McMahon, whose team improved to 12-9 overall and pulled back to .500 in SEC play at 4 4, said the sizzling shooting wasn’t a fluke.
“We scored 29 baskets on 17 assists,” McMahon said. “Because we played unselfishly and really shared the ball, you saw good looks for Mike Williams (13 points including 4 of 6 3’s) and Will Baker. “Our efficiency was really good because of the unselfish play.
“When we move the ball like that and limit our turnovers and when we play together like that, it allows us to score 95 points at home.”
Considering the 11 a.m. tipoff time with a rainy Saturday forcing a late arriving crowd topped out at 7,880, there was no inspiration for the Tigers to come roaring out of the gates.
But they did. LSU starting point guard Trey Hannibal’s layup with the game just two minutes old gave the Tigers a lead they never relinquished. LSU nailed 11 of its first 14 shots (including 6 of 7 3’s) and never looked back.
McMahon’s decision not to start Cook was a bold but needed move.
For all his positives, in SEC play Cook had been shooting just 40 percent from the field and 28.3 percent from 3-point range, many of the misfires due to poor shot selection. He also had more than twice as many turnovers (24) as assists (11) in league games.
McMahon wanted more ball movement in his offense, so he started Hannibal and went back to a motion offense they successfully used for the bulk of non-conference play before Cook became eligible.
“He played with great poise and ran our team,” McMahon said of Hannibal, who had 6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 0 turnovers. “I thought we were really organized on the offensive side, which allows good players to flourish.”
Arkansas, picked in the preseason to finish second in the SEC, continued its puzzling downward spiral. The Razorbacks of fifth-year head coach Eric Musselman, after advancing to the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight in 2021 and 2022 and the Sweet 16 last season, fell to 11-11 overall and 2-6 in the SEC.
“You cannot compare (the 2023-24 Razorbacks to) teams of the past,” Musselman said. “We are doing the same drills, but the execution come game time is just not there.
“We aren’t defending the three and the dribble drive. If we were, we would probably have a better record. It is our job to get players to improve. It is our job to get players to follow the game plan.”
LSU has 10 remaining SEC games, but McMahon’s squad is bracing itself for a brutal February. The Tigers’ next stretch is against five of the league’s seven teams, starting with Wednesday’s matchup at No. 5 Tennessee.
“You hope it (the win over Arkansas) leads to more confidence,” McMahon said. “You see the hard work the guys put in this week. You see the trust they played with to share the ball on offense leading to quality shots.
“You see that it works. We have really good players and we’ve just got to keep getting better.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com