Arkansas 72, No. 16 LSU 52

Saturday, January 20th 2007, 5:14 pm

By: News On 6

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Steven Hill scored a career-high 16 points -- many of them on crowd-pleasing dunks -- and Arkansas rolled to an easy 72-52 victory over No. 16 LSU on Saturday.

The Razorbacks (13-6, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) had lost three straight since an 88-61 win over then-No. 8 Alabama earlier this month. They ended the skid with a resounding performance against another ranked team.

Hill, whose previous career high was 15 points in a 67-64 loss to Georgia on Wednesday night, went 8-10 from the field. The 7-footer is 20-22 in his last four games.

LSU (13-5, 2-2) had won seven of eight against Arkansas, but couldn't overcome 35 percent shooting in this one. Glen Davis led he Tigers with 16 points on 6-16 shooting, and added 8 rebounds.

Hill, a junior, more than held his own against the LSU star. Hill has been known more as a shot blocker than a scorer at Arkansas, but he's made teams pay lately for losing track of him.

The Razorbacks were already ahead comfortably in the second half when Hill brought the crowd to life with a trio of dunks. The first two finished alley-oops and the last, a putback of a missed shot, made it 59-44.

Hill added seven rebounds, and left to a standing ovation with 1:08 to play.

Arkansas point guard Gary Ervin, who has struggled with turnovers lately, was pulled from the starting lineup in favor of freshman Stefan Welsh. But when Ervin played, he was effective. He finished with 11 points, seven assists and three turnovers.

Sonny Weems added 13 points for the Razorbacks, and Charles Thomas had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Darian Townes scored 10 points.

Arkansas lost to Georgia on Steve Newman's long 3-pointer at the buzzer, but the Razorbacks bounced back emphatically against LSU. The Tigers' Magnum Rolle missed a dunk on an alley-oop, and freshman Patrick Beverley made a 3-pointer at the other end to give Arkansas an 18-10 lead. The Razorbacks later went on a 9-0 run to make it 36-21.

Arkansas led 39-26 after a first half in which it shot 59 percent, then Hill started the second with an alley-oop dunk. Beverley's 3-pointer in transition made it 46-28.

LSU coach John Brady was clearly exasperated on the sideline, drawing chants of "Sit Down, Brady!" late in the game. Brady raised his hand to acknowledge the Arkansas fans, then sat.

Terry Martin scored 10 points for the Tigers. Tasmin Mitchell finished with as many turnovers (6) as points.

The previous four meetings between the teams were decided by five points or less.