Can banged up Khalif Battle maintain torrid pace against LSU?

Arkansas men’s basketball has had it share of struggles, but senior guard Khalif Battle has certainly been worth the price of admission lately.

Battle’s emergence over the last couple weeks has been remarkable as he has gone from unplayable to unguardable.

The 6-5 volume scorer is averaging 37.3 points over his last three games, and Arkansas has needed every one of them to stay competitive in the SEC.

Battle plays with immense swagger and has no problems putting the team on his back from a confidence standpoint, but injuries have impacted his season at times.

The wear and tear of a heavy workload forced Battle to miss Monday’s practice as the Hogs prepare for Wednesday’s home finale against LSU.

“He’s been really, really healthy,” Musselman said on his weekly radio show. “He went through the broken foot in the summer. Then he’s had some nagging injuries mid-year and was in the training room a lot.

“He’s banged up again now because of the minutes he’s played. Today was a day he was not able to practice.

“Hopefully he’ll be able to get rehab over the next couple days and be ready for the game on Wednesday.”

Battle finds himself in exclusive company with Mason Jones as the only two Razorbacks to have produced three straight 30-point scoring games.

If he surpasses the mark again on Wednesday, he will be the first player in program history to do so in four consecutive outings.

For reference, Battle played just nine minutes and went scoreless in Arkansas’ 95-74 loss at LSU on Feb. 3.

“The scoring numbers that he is putting up right now throughout college basketball and when you look at the history of Razorback basketball, he and Mason Jones have put together incredible numbers just as JD Notae did,” Musselman said.

“When you get a player hot, you want to try to maximize it. Just like a baseball hitter on a streak, you want to increase his at-bats.

“Certainly right now with KB, we want to get the ball in his hands and find mismatches for him to be able to put the ball in the hole or draw free throws.”