LSU’s Winning “Streak” Ends At 1 As It Falls To Oklahoma, 83-67

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

So much for momentum.

After a one-game winning streak, which really isn’t a streak, LSU returned to its more familiar pattern and lost to fellow bottom feeder Oklahoma, 83-67, before a few thousand fans at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Saturday night.

The Tigers (15-14, 3-13 Southeastern Conference) trailed from the 16:51 mark of the first half through the rest of the game to a Sooner team (15-14, 4-12 SEC) that had lost 11 of its previous 14.

At least, though, the end is near. LSU has just two games left in the regular season – at Auburn on Tuesday (9 p.m., SEC Network) and at home against Texas A&M Saturday (5 p.m., SEC Network).

After trailing 41-33 at halftime, LSU twice got within five points early in the second half. A pair of free throws by forward Pablo Tamba cut the Sooners’ lead to 51-46 with 14:13 left, and a tip-in by center Mike Nwoko with 13:24 remaining had the Tigers within 53-48.

LSU fumbled rebounds and missed too many open shots over the next several minutes, and Oklahoma opened up a 12-point lead at 64-52 with 9:53 left on a three-pointer by Nijel Pack, who led all scorers with 21, including 5 of 11 from three-point range. And the rout was on.

“I just didn’t do a good enough job getting guys freed up,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “Jut didn’t get the type of shot quality we needed.”

And it showed.

Max Mackinnon led LSU with 17 points, but he was 1 of 7 from three-point range and only 6 of 20 overall.

“It was hard to get a clear shot,” Mackinnon said. “We didn’t get good looks.”

The Tigers finished 6 of 23 from long range for 26 percent and 22 of 63 overall for 35 percent. Nwoko scored 11 points but had just three rebounds. Tamba finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

LSU out-rebounded Oklahoma, 37-35, but it couldn’t recover from its poor shooting. The Sooners shot 38 percent from three-point range (10 of 26) and 49 percent from the field (28 of 59).

Because of LSU’s poor shooting, Oklahoma was able to crowd the middle, and center Robert Miller III was held to six points on 2-of-4 shooting and took only two free throws.

“They packed it in tight,” McMahon said.

The Tigers actually took a 5-0 lead to open the game, but Oklahoma soon took over and led by as many as nine twice in the first half – at 20-11 with 12:28 to go and 38-29 with 2:52 left.

The Tigers crept to within 38-33 with 1:03 left before the break on a jumper by Mackinnon. But Pack’s three-pointer with :03 left put the Sooners up by 41-33.

LSU dominated the Sooners on the boards in the first half, 21-14, but shot so poorly it did not matter. LSU was 2 of 12 from three-point range for 17 percent and 10 of 30 from the field for 33 percent. Oklahoma hit 48 percent of its shots (12 of 25), including 4 of 11 from long range for 36 percent.

The Tigers had no one in double figures in the first half. Tamba had six with seven rebounds, while Mackinnon had six on 2-of-8 shooting and 0 for 3 from long range.

Oklahoma won back-to-back SEC games for the second time this month after losing nine in a row from Jan. 7 through Feb. 4.

“You have to believe in a path,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said. “Even when no one sees the path but you.”

LSU’s path continues to be to nowhere.