Sooners Host LSU on Saturday at 5 p.m.

NORMAN — The Oklahoma men's basketball team (16-8, 3-8 SEC) plays an unranked opponent for the first time since Jan. 25 when it hosts LSU (12-12, 1-10) on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT inside Lloyd Noble Center.

Saturday's game will mark the sixth all-time meeting between OU and LSU, with the Sooners holding a 3-2 series edge. The programs have met just twice over the last 37 seasons, with OU winning 70-61 in Norman in the 2004 postseason NIT first round and 77-75 in Baton Rouge as the nation's No. 1 team in January 2016.

The contest will be televised by the SEC Network with Kevin Fitzgerald (play-by-play) and Joe Kleine (analyst) announcing. It will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland (play-by-play) and Kevin Henry (analyst) on the call.

Oklahoma vs. LSU
Date: Saturday, Feb. 15
Tip Time: 5 p.m. CT
Location: Norman, Okla.
Arena: Lloyd Noble Center

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Game Notes

OPENING TIP

• The Sooners are coming off one of their toughest five-game stretches in program history, as each of their last five opponents were ranked in the AP poll at the time of competition, including three in the top 13 and two in the top 4. It marked just the second time OU ever faced five consecutive AP-ranked foes (the other occasion came in the 1994-95 season). Interestingly, after this Saturday's game against unranked LSU, OU will play another five straight games against teams ranked in this week's AP poll.

• The Sooners have played nine ranked opponents this season, already matching the number they faced all of last season.

• Oklahoma ranks eighth nationally with its .288 3-point field goal percentage defense (the OU single-season record is .292), while LSU ranks last in the SEC and 317th nationally by shooting .308 from beyond the arc.

• LSU enters Saturday's game on a seven-game losing streak. The Tigers' lone SEC win came at home against Arkansas (78-74) on Jan. 14. They are 1-6 in true road games, with the only victory coming at Kansas State (76-65) on Nov. 14. LSU is 0-6 in SEC road games.

• In SEC play, OU's Brycen Goodine has made 27 of 52 3-pointers for a sparkling .519 mark. The first-year Sooner would lead the SEC in league play if he had enough makes to qualify for the category (he is one shy). Goodine is 16 for 29 from behind the arc over OU's last seven games (.552).

• Among the 216 active players nationally who have made at least 100 3-pointers over the last two seasons, Goodine's .462 mark from behind the arc during the period is second best. He shot .467 last year at Fairfield (77 for 165) and is shooting .453 this season (43 for 95).

• OU senior forward Jalon Moore, who last week was named a top-10 national candidate for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award, enters the weekend ranked sixth in SEC play with his 16.9 points per game and third with his .508 field goal percentage.

• On the season, Oklahoma and Florida are the only teams with two players each who rank in the top 14 in the SEC in scoring. Moore ranks eighth (17.3 ppg) and freshman guard Jeremiah Fears ranks 14th (15.2 ppg). Florida's Walton Clayton Jr. (17.5) and Alijah Martin (15.3) rank fifth and 13th.

OU-LSU SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday's game will mark the sixth all-time meeting between Oklahoma and LSU, with the Sooners holding a 3-2 advantage. OU has won the last two meetings, posting a 70-61 victory in the 2003 postseason NIT first round in Norman and pulling out a 77-75 triumph in Baton Rouge in the 2015-16 season.

• In the most recent meeting, guard Isaiah Cousins hit a pull-up jumper from the left elbow with 4 seconds remaining to lift Lon Kruger's No. 1-ranked Sooners to victory. OU, which finished 29-8 that season and advanced to the program's fifth Final Four, got 32 points and 7 rebounds from Buddy Hield (8 for 15 from 3-point range). Hield went on to earn the Wooden Award and Naismith and Oscar Robertson trophies as national player of the year. Cousins finished with 18 points, 4 boards, 7 assists and 4 steals, while forward Ryan Spangler registered 16 points and 10 rebounds. Ben Simmons, the No. 1 pick in the ensuing NBA Draft, recorded 14 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists for LSU.

• Billy Tubb's Sooners posted a 94-85 win over LSU on Jan. 12, 1987, at The Myriad in Oklahoma City, as guard Tim McCalister led five OU players in double figures by finishing with 29 points (nailed 5 of 7 3-point tries and all 8 free throw attempts).

• LSU's series wins came in the 1970 NIT quarterfinals at New York's Madison Square Garden (97-94) and in January 1988 in New Orleans (84-77). In the NIT matchup, the Tigers' Pete Maravich scored 37 points in his next-to-last collegiate game. The 1988 contest marked OU's first loss after a 14-0 season start and came the same day it had climbed to No. 3 in the AP poll, its highest ranking in program history at the time. Jose Vargas led LSU with 30 points and 10 rebounds, while Harvey Grant paced the Sooners with 19 and 9. The loss was one of just four on the season for OU, which won 35 games and advanced to the national title contest under Tubbs.

SHOOTING LIGHTS OUT AT LNC

• OU, which is 10-3 at Lloyd Noble Center this season, has shot phenomenally well in the building with its .499 field goal, .373 3-point and .813 free throw marks.

• The Sooners have shot over 50% from the field in four of their five SEC home games (.543 vs. No. 10 Texas A&M, .510 vs. Texas, .560 vs. South Carolina and .632 vs. No. 24 Vanderbilt), combining for a .514 figure in the five contests. They have also shot .440 from 3-point range in their five SEC home outings.

THERE'S ONLY ONE

• In SEC play, Oklahoma is the only team to rank in the top six in field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage, and OU ranks in the top five of each. The Sooners are shooting .448 from the field (fifth), .363 from 3-point range (fifth) and .775 from the free throw line (second).