BATON ROUGE – The number one team in the Associated Press men’s college basketball poll will come to Baton Rouge for the 10th time since the poll began in the late 1940s and the game will be contested for the seventh time in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center when top-ranked Oklahoma meets the LSU Tigers at 4 p.m. in one of the featured matchups of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
ESPN’s veteran broadcast crew of Brent Musburger and Dick Vitale will call the game on ESPN with Holly Rowe working the sidelines, while Jim Hawthorne, Ricky Blanton and host Kevin Ford will have the call on the LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge).
The game is listed as a sellout as far as tickets available are concerned. The student section will be available on a first-come basis to LSU students with a valid school ID beginning at 2:30 p.m. when gates open and the will call windows open at the Maravich Center for ticket pick up.
The game is designated as the “Gold Game” and fans are encouraged to wear gold to the contest.
Halftime will feature the incredible Red Panda Acrobat. She has performed her famous unicycle bowl flipping act around the world for over 20 years (including the Maravich Center) and will return to Baton Rouge for this game after coming out of retirement last fall.
LSU enters the game with a 3-16 record against the No. 1 team in the AP poll with the first meeting against No. 1 exactly 1 day short of 55 years again on Jan. 31, 1951, when LSU was defeated in Baton Rouge by Kentucky, 81-59.
LSU’s first win over No. 1 came against the Wildcats on February 11, 1978, when LSU defeated Kentucky, 95-94, in overtime with all five LSU starters on the bench after fouling out. That win was under College Hall of Fame coach Dale Brown.
It was would be 24 years before an AP No. 1 would fall again in the Maravich Center, as LSU, led by coach John Brady, defeated Arizona, 66-65, on Dec., 21, 2002 (video). Current Director of Student-Athlete Development Ronald Dupree was on that team and played in the game, and Vitale called the contest on ESPN2 that night.
LSU’s other win over a No. 1 team came in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament as the Tigers were on their way to the NCAA Final Four under Brady. The Tigers downed Duke by a score of 62-54 in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
The Tigers come into the contest with a record of 13-7 and 6-2 in the SEC, while Oklahoma is 17-2 and 6-2 in the Big 12. The big talk about the game was the star players on both sides – LSU freshman Ben Simmons and Oklahoma senior Buddy Hield. But the pair play different positions so the comparison of the two matching up may seem a little bit of game hype, but no matter their statistics certainly have dominated talk in college basketball this season.
Simmons has 15 double doubles which leads all SEC players and Division I freshman. He is averaging 19.8 points per game, 12.7 rebounds and 4.85 assists per game. He is shooting 55.3 percent from the field and has hit over 71 free throws (124-174).
Hield averages 25.9 points per game (second nationally) and has seven 30-point games this season. He is shooting 52.3 (79-151) from three-point range and that is not even tops on the Sooner team. He ranks first in the country with his 4.16 three-point field goals made. The senior from the Bahamas is one of three seniors expected to start for veteran coach Lon Kruger.
Also starting and averaging in double figures for the Sooners are Jordan Woodard (who actually has a better three-point percentage than Hield (54.4 to 52.3) at 14.9 points per game; Isaiah Cousins at 13.1 points and Ryan Spangler at 10.7 points and 9.7 rebounds.
The Tigers will have double figure scorers Keith Hornsby (13.2 points), Craig Victor II (12.8) and Tim Quarterman (11.6) set to counter along with guard Jalyn Patterson.
“… We are looking forward to preparation for the No. 1 team in the country, a team that’s highlighted by Buddy Hield, a guy who has done a tremendous job of scoring and coming back to school for an additional year and has continued to improve in a lot of ways,” said LSU Coach Johnny Jones at his Thursday media session. “His numbers are all up and positive from field goal percentage to three-point field goal percentage to his team being ranked No. 1 in the country. They certainly have a lot of really talented guys around him. He’s not a one-man band. They’ve done a great job this year with two setbacks that were closely contested that were on the road. We know it’s going to be a great challenge for us Saturday afternoon. We look forward to the challenge and having a chance to play against such quality competition and team.”
Prior to the game, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center will be hosting “Geaux Fit. Be Amazing. 2016.” This event features some of LSU’s most popular coaches and players from sports like women’s basketball, soccer and softball, plus fun health information and demos from Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital that encourage kids to live a more active lifestyle.
The event will be held at the Carl Maddox LSU Field House from 1-3 p.m. prior to the LSU-Oklahoma game. There will be a chance for those attending that event to win free tickets to the basketball game.
Follow updates on the contest at www.Facebook.com/LSUBasketball and on Twitter @LSUBasketball.