Sooners Roll Past LSU in NIT First Round, 70-61

NORMAN, Okla. -- Freshmen Brandon Foust and Drew Lavender combined for 34 points, and Johnnie Gilbert added 11 to lead Oklahoma past LSU 70-61 in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday night.

The Sooners, absent from the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade, clinched their seventh consecutive 20-win season -- quite an accomplishment considering their undersized lineup and reliance on four freshman in the final part of the season.

Oklahoma (20-10) moves on to face Michigan (19-11) in the second round of the NIT.

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The Sooners opened its lead to 60-48 late in the second half, then held off a late flurry of 3s by LSU guard Darrel Mitchell by hitting 10 of 11 free throws in the final four minutes of the game.

Foust, a classmate of Lavender at Columbus Brookhaven (Ohio) High School, has become a revelation of sorts after the Sooners' roster was whittled down to eight scholarship players because of injuries and suspensions.

The 6-foot-6, 205-pounder, mostly playing out of position at power forward, has set career highs for points in consecutive games, including 19 in Wednesday night's victory.

Foust shot 8-of-12 and matched another career mark with seven rebounds. Lavender finished with 15 points and five assists.

LSU (18-11) closed its season by dropping seven of its final eight games, a disappointing finish for a team that was ranked in the AP Top 25 a month ago.

The Tigers never recovered after losing All-SEC forward Jaime Lloreda to a season-ending foot injury during a Feb. 18 defeat against Auburn. LSU watched its NCAA tournament hopes evaporate down the stretch as coach John Brady was forced to rely on an eight-man rotation that included five freshman.

Antonio Hudson led LSU with 16 points and Brandon Bass, the SEC freshman of the year, had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Mitchell added 12 points.

It probably wasn't a coincidence that NIT officials put together this matchup between the schools that played for the football national championship.

As they did in LSU's 21-14 win at the Sugar Bowl, turnovers made the difference.

The Tigers had nearly as many turnovers (19) as field goals (20), even throwing the ball away on five of six possessions during one sloppy first-half stretch.

NIT Bracket

Oklahoma assistant coach Jimmy Tubbs, rumored to be a candidate for the vacant SMU head coaching job, wasn't on the bench during the game.

Sooners coach Kelvin Sampson said he was on the road recruiting.