Will Wade provides explanation for technical foul which provided turning point for Arkansas

With 24 seconds left in the first half on Friday, LSU led Arkansas 26-24. Then, Tigers coach Will Wade got a technical foul, and the Razorbacks scored five straight points to take a 29-26 lead into halftime.

Arkansas ended up winning the game 79-67, and that technical on Wade proved to be a turning point in the game. Afterward, the LSU coach offered his side of what happened.

“I asked [the referee] why there was 20 on the shot clock because there was 22 seconds left in the half,” Wade said. “There was 20 on the shot clock. I found out afterwards it would go black if we got the rebound. It would be 20 if Arkansas had gotten the offensive rebound.

“That’s all I asked, why there was 20 seconds on the shot clock. I swear to God. That’s all I did. I promise you. Now, whether you think that deserves a technical or not, that’s for your interpretation. Now, before that, eh, pretty good. But that last straw was, yes, I asked why there was 20 seconds on the shot clock. You can interpret that how you will.”

Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman reveals key to SEC Tournament win over LSU

The Arkansas Razorbacks are one of the hottest teams in college basketball and on Friday afternoon, they continued to remain on a tear, defeating LSU 79-67 in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. Following the big win, Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman spoke with ESPN’s Marty Smith on the court about why his team was able to pull away with a win.

“You know, I thought that little run at the end of the first half, Chris Lykes gave us a jolt of energy,” Musselman told Smith. “And then we came out with that 13-1 run to start the second half. We made a few adjustments offensively that I thought opened up the floor for us a little bit more. Obviously, we shot the ball so much better in the second half.”

Arkansas had three players score 18 points or more in the winning effort — JD Notae, Chris Lykes and Au’Diese Toney. Musselman having so many players being able to contribute is vital to his group’s success.

“Yeah, I think it’s really important that we have ball distribution,” Musselman said. The ball’s gotta have eyes. At times today, we still got a little sticky with the ball. But defensively and offensively, I thought we played pretty good on both sides of the ball.”

The Razorbacks now get ready for the SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday against Texas A&M.