How It Happened: LSU Basketball Drops SEC Matchup to Oklahoma Sooners, 83-67

BATON ROUGE – Oklahoma’s defense put the clamps on the LSU shooting opportunities Saturday and scored an 83-67 victory over the Tigers at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

LSU shot just 34.9 percent for the game (22-of-63) and 6-of-23 from distance. The Sooners, meanwhile, made 47.5 percent of their field goals (28-of-59) and 10 three-pointers.

Max Mackinnon led the Tigers with 17 points, while PJ Carter came in the second half to play 13 minutes and hit four three-pointers to score 12 points.

Mike Nwoko had 11 points, while Pablo Tamba had his fifth double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. While Jalen Reece had just two points, he had eight assists on the night.

Four players were in double figures for the Sooners with Nijel Pack hitting five three-pointers in scoring 21 points. Xzayvier Brown had 20 points, with Dayton Forsythe adding 13 and Mohamed Wague posting 10 with a team high nine rebounds.

For the second straight game LSU’s Rob Miller III blocked four shots but he had to leave the game after being hit in what appeared to be the nose area in the second half.

LSU had a 37-35 advantage in rebounds and 16-11 in offensive rebounds which was part of a 16-13 lead in second chance points. The Tigers were held to 22 points in the paint.

Oklahoma led at the half, 41-33 and was able to expand the lead to as much as 22 in the final six minutes of the game.

The Tigers travel to Auburn for their final road game at 9 p.m. CT against the Auburn Tigers. The game will be televised on the SEC Network and broadcast on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network.

The Tigers close the regular season at home on Saturday, March 7, at 5 p.m. against Texas A&M. Senior tribute ceremonies begin at 4:40 p.m.

LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon

Opening Statement…

“Great credit to Oklahoma tonight. Over the last month, they’ve been playing their best basketball. They’ve been in the top 10 in the country in offensive efficiency over the last month and you saw that today. I thought we did a good job containing the three-point line, which was a huge concern going in tonight, but they hurt us getting to the free throw line in the first half. Then we missed the coverage there at the half time buzzer, so instead of going down by five, you go down by eight. In the second half, we couldn’t get enough stops.

"I thought when we forced them into tough shots, after we only gave up two offensive rebounds in the first half, we gave up nine in the second half. Overall on our offensive end, I didn’t do a good enough job of getting our players high quality shots where we could have more efficient on the offensive end coming off Wednesday night’s (106-99 2OT win at Ole Miss) performance where we scored 106 points and had 24 assists. We just couldn’t execute with the same efficiency, and Oklahoma’s defense had a lot to do with that.”

On the guard play tonight…

“I thought their guards dominated the game on both ends of the floor. Offensively, we struggled to contain them one on one off the bounce and then (Nijel) Pack put such pressure on our defense with his ability to shoot the three from deep – he can do it off the catch, dribble, and transition. He’s made over 400 (three pointers) in his career.

"He’s such a weapon from there and we struggled to contain that – I thought that’s what led to some of the fouls in the first half when they got to the free throw line. On our offensive side, I just didn’t do a good enough job getting our guys freed up for high quality shots.

"They were really packed in tight on defense and did a good job protecting the paint, contesting shots, and we just didn’t get the type of shot quality that we needed to get here today.”

On rotating between Robert Miller III and Michael Nwoko in the lineup recently…

“It wasn’t a demotion of anyone. What it was is a study of the combinations that we play and which lineups have been most efficient for us based on our NET ranking on offensive and defensive efficiency. We’ve tried to be intentional in getting those combinations to the floor over the last couple of games that have been more productive for us consistently.

"It wasn’t just one guy not getting it done, it was just trying to get the best combinations on the floor to give us the best chance to win. I thought against Ole Miss it was good for us. I thought with Robert (Miller III) since he’s gone to the starting lineup, he’s had eight blocks in two games and provided great rim protection there.

"With Mike (Nwoko), he scored more efficiently in the two games as well. Unfortunately, and this is a great credit to Oklahoma, they did a good job at taking away Mike’s opportunities in the post. Because we weren’t shooting the ball very well, they were able to pack in tight and we weren’t able to get enough opportunities around the rim for him.”

More LSU News:

LSU Football, Ohio State Buckeyes, USC Trojans Among Top Schools for No. 4 Rated WR

LSU Football Predicted to Land Commitment From Elite Louisiana Running Back

Paul Finebaum Reveals Bold Statement on LSU Football's Lane Kiffin Amid Major Move

Join the Community:

Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers On SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage surrounding the LSU Tigers.