Oh, to be in Fayetteville tonight: The city must be absolutely electric as the Hogs reached the 15-victory mark for the first time in three years today by beating LSU 80-61.
OK, probably not.
If the Hogs are going to prevent yet another off-the-cliff finish to their regular season, today's game was absolutely one they had to have. It's getting harder and harder to imagine Pelphrey back in Fayetteville next season, but a loss at home to the now 10-15 Tigers may have been, in the immortal words of former Villanova basketball coach Jack Kraft, "the nail that broke the coffin's back."
Rotnei Clarke was terrific today, hitting 7 of 10 field goals (including 5 of 6 from three-point range) and all 6 of his free throws for 25 points. Another highlight was that the awesomely named walk-on Kikko Haydar played 5 minutes and scored 2 points. Kikko! Kikko!