LSU jumped out to a big early lead against Arkansas at home on Saturday, and it never looked back en route to a crucial 95-74 win that ended a three-game losing streak.
Forward [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] was a major reason for that hot start. Baker led the team with 25 points, making 9 of his 11 attempts from the field including a 7 of 8 showing in the second half. He was even effective from long range, attempting five threes and sinking four of them.
Baker credited his teammates for allowing him to get in the zone early.
“My teammates found me on a corner three,” he said, per On3’s Matthew Brune. “I got in a rhythm early and I definitely think that helped me. All credit to my teammates because they kept finding me when I was open. I just stepped in and shot it.”
Baker wasn’t the only Tiger who got hot from three-point range. The team shot 12 of 23 from downtown as a whole, and it had 17 assists overall in the win.
“We have a lot of talent on the team,” guard [autotag]Jalen Cook[/autotag], who scored 20 coming off the bench, said. “We can spread it around. (Will) Baker can step out and shoot the three. We have a lot of three-point shooters. Mike Williams can shoot it. We have some shooters, so we just try space the floor out and attack.”
Baker concurred with Cook’s assessment.
“Like (Jalen) Cook said, we have shooters so that allows us to space the floor,” Baker said. “When you have threats like that it allows us to be able to drive and kick out to find more open looks. It just builds on itself. When one guy is a threat, he can drive and kick it to another shooter.”
The Tigers will hope that trend is one they can build on with a crucial road matchup against Tennessee coming up in the midweek.
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