LSU and Oklahoma find themselves trending downward as they prepare to meet Saturday for the only time this regular season in a matchup in Norman, Okla.
The two programs occupy two of the bottom three spots in the Southeastern Conference, with only winless South Carolina — 0-11 in the conference — preventing them from descending.
Saddled with a three-game losing streak, the host Sooners (16-8, 3-8) last tasted victory with a 30-point rout of then-No. 24 Vanderbilt on Feb. 1, part of a five-game stretch against ranked SEC squads.
Coach Porter Moser, in the fourth year of a six-year contract, has watched his group regress, and he recently put his players on the spot after last Saturday’s 70-52 loss to then-No. 4 Tennessee.
“Well, I thought what we’ve done earlier in the year that we’re not doing right now is, emotionally and physically, fighting through hard times in a game,” Moser said. “I thought, over and over, we talked about we had resiliency fighting through some of these games, early games.
“I think we’re not emotionally together fighting through that, the hard parts of the game, right now.”
The Sooners were then romped by No. 21 Missouri 82-58 on Wednesday.
Oklahoma’s Jalon Moore and Jeremiah Fears lead the way, scoring 17.3 and 15.2 points per game, respectively.
The situation is far more dire for LSU (12-12, 1-10).
In a steady plummet in conference action, the Tigers have dropped seven consecutive contests dating back to their lone SEC win — a 78-74 triumph over visiting Arkansas.
They did the same thing on Wednesday night at Arkansas that Oklahoma did in Missouri: lose overwhelmingly.
After topping the Razorbacks in Baton Rouge on Jan. 14 in that one win, LSU lost 70-58 to Arkansas, getting outshot 60 percent to 35.7 percent in the second half.
“You know, we got the shots. We got 10 more attempts (in the game) than they did,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “… You mentioned a quick turnaround, we’ll get back tonight, get back to the floor (Thursday) and get ready for Oklahoma on Saturday.”
Guard Cam Carter (16.8 ppg) leads at the offensive end and has been the top scorer in eight of the past 12 games. Jordan Sears (13.3) and Jalen Reed (11.1) also net in double figures.
–Field Level Media
