By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
The LSU men’s basketball team plays a Southeastern Conference game Saturday for just the third time out of 16 games this season after a league win.
Can it handle success, or more accurately, a miniscule taste of it?
The Tigers (15-13, 3-12 SEC) beat fellow bottom feeder Ole Miss, 106-99, in double overtime on Wednesday in Oxford, Mississippi, for their first win since Jan. 31 at bottom feeder South Carolina, breaking a five-game losing skid.
Now, LSU plays bottom feeder Oklahoma (14-14, 4-11 SEC) at 5 p.m. on the SEC Network.
The Tigers last won two straight SEC games on Feb. 15 and 18 of last year when they beat cellar dwellers Oklahoma, 82-79, and South Carolina, 81-67, respectively, to improve to 14-12 and 3-10 before finishing 14-18 and 3-15.
But they’ll take it, if only to briefly keep changing a depressing narrative.
LSU wins a basketball game behind Mad Man Max Mackinnon:https://t.co/pHOOGejuBR
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) February 26, 2026
“Everyone who played was incredibly productive for us,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said gleefully on Wednesday. “I was really pleased.”
Oklahoma, though, has been playing well of late, having won three of its last five games, including a 91-79 win over Auburn on Tuesday. The Sooners won, 92-91, at then-No. 15 Vanderbilt on Feb. 7 to start this current string, but before that they had lost nine straight games.
LSU also has played better in recent losses before Ole Miss, though, with a 90-83 loss last Saturday to No. 25 Alabama, 88-85 at Texas and 73-63 at Tennessee.
“Unless people are blind, they’ve seen this team improve over the last three or four games,” former LSU Final Four coach John Brady said after the win Wednesday as game analyst on the LSU Radio Network.
“I thought the effort and competitive spirit were awesome,” McMahon said.
Should LSU get by Oklahoma, it may have a chance to win three straight SEC games for the first time since 2021-22 under McMahon’s predecessor Will Wade, who was fired during that season for his personal involvement in five Level 1 NCAA violations. That season, LSU won 76-68 at Texas A&M, 69-65 over Mississippi State and 84-65 over Georgia from Feb. 8-16 in a 22-12 and 9-9 season.
After Oklahoma, LSU plays on Tuesday (9 p.m., SEC Network) at struggling Auburn (15-13, 6-9 SEC), which has lost six of seven under first-year coach Steven Pearl in his first head coaching job. The son of former two-time Auburn Final Four coach Bruce Pearl, his only coaching experience was as an assistant to his dad from 2017-2025.
After Auburn, the Tigers close the regular season on Saturday, March 7, at home against Texas A&M (19-9, 9-6 SEC) at 5 p.m. on the SEC Network. The Aggies have lost five of their last seven, including three by double digits.
Regardless of how LSU does over its last four games and in the SEC Tournament March 11-15 in Nashville, it appears McMahon may be coming back for next season despite three SEC losing seasons in four years.
Major LSU supporter E.J. Kuiper, the CEO of the Our Lady of the Lake hospital system who was on the search committee with LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry to hire football coach Lane Kiffin last November, threw his support to Wade after the win over Ole Miss.
FMOL Health President/CEO endorses LSU retaining Matt McMahon. Remember, EJ Kuiper was on the six person football coach search committee. His voice carries weight.
— Matt Moscona (@MattMoscona) February 26, 2026
I’ve said it plenty, there is no consensus among decision makers about making a change. pic.twitter.com/ekGDWUuSGT
“LSU beats Ole Miss in Oxford!!! Matt McMahon is a good coach,” Kuiper said on Instagram. “Took over a program that was in shambles and had to deal with key injuries all season long. He deserves another chance.”
Was that, though, the dreaded vote of confidence before the firing?
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