Arkansas men's basketball looks to finish rough regular season on high note
It would be a dramatic understatement to say that the 2023-24 college basketball season has been underwhelming for the Arkansas Razorbacks.
After reaching the Sweet 16 three years in a row, and the Elite 8 in two of those seasons, Arkansas is having its worst season since Eric Musselman's first year in Fayetteville. During that 2019-20 campaign, Arkansas ended the season as the No. 11 seed in the SEC Tournament, knocking off Vanderbilt on the first night of the tournament before the Covid-19 pandemic abruptly ended the college basketball season.
Going into Wednesday's matchup with LSU, Arkansas sits below .500, with a paltry 14-15 overall record and a 5-11 mark in the SEC. With a loss to either LSU on Wednesday or Alabama on Saturday, Arkansas would lose its most conference games in a season since 2011. If the Razorbacks beat both LSU and Alabama, it would be their worst conference mark since the aforementioned 2019-20 team.
The worst agony for fans is that there is no one underlying issue with the club; they're just not a good basketball team this season, despite having a roster full of talent and a coach in Musselman who is revered throughout the college basketball world. Despite a disappointing campaign this year, there is one thing the Razorbacks can do to try and get back into the fans' good graces: win their final game in front of the home crowd.
Arkansas can't make the NCAA Tournament even if they were to beat LSU and Alabama both by 100 points, but the least they can do is send their home crowd happy with a big win against arguably their biggest rival. With a tough road trip to Tuscaloosa looming and a likely five-games-in-five-days scenario upcoming in the SEC Tournament, a win against LSU would at least tell fans that the team hasn't quit on Musselman.
It would also show a little bit of consistency for a program that has struggled to find it this year, as Arkansas played one of its best games of the season Saturday in Rupp Arena before falling 111-102 to a strong Kentucky squad.
While LSU thumped Arkansas 95-74 in Baton Rouge on Feb. 3, the friendly confines of Bud Walton Arena should play host to one of Arkansas' better performances of the season. LSU sits just eighth in the SEC with a 16-13 record overall.
Khalif Battle will be a huge key for Arkansas offensively, as the senior guard has scored at least 30 points in the last three games. He will need to step up again on Wednesday night in order to lead Arkansas to a home victory. Tramon Mark, who's arguably been Arkansas' most consistent scorer, will need a big night as well, as it's been his best games where Arkansas has played the best.
A win on Wednesday sends the Fayetteville crowd home happy and feeling optimistic about next week's SEC Tournament. A loss, and the wheels may be falling off the Muss Bus on the way to Nashville.
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