The 4 p.m. Saturday matchup has been national talk-show gold.
ESPN has been touting it all week, No. 1 Oklahoma vs. LSU, unranked but coming on.
And the spotlight has been on the teams’ respective stars, OU’s Buddy Hield and his 25.9 points-per-game scoring average and LSU’s Ben Simmons, a freshman phenom like we haven’t seen in years.
But don’t worry about the LSU players getting sold on the hype. Rather, they appear to have gotten the message, that it’s a big game but not the be-all end-all.
“We know we have to come out and do what we do and not worry about them being No. 1, but just worry about who we are,” said freshman Antonio Blakeney.
Said sophomore guard Jalyn Patterson, “I’m excited for it but you just have to stay focused. You can’t let the hype get to us and just do what we’ve been doing.”
So much of the hype has been about Simmons, who seems totally unfazed by such things.
“It’s another game to me,” said Simmons matter of factly. “It’s important because every game is important to me. But I definitely want to get a win.”
Seriously, the kid takes all this so much in stride it’s hard to imagine. He said that during an interview session Thursday, a day in which he took time out to do a morning bit on SportsCenter.
Here’s why: Oklahoma is 17-2 and tied for the lead in the Big 12 at 6-2. Hield is ranked second in the nation in scoring, first in the Big 12. LSU is 13-7, 6-2 in the SEC, and has won four of its last five games and six of eight. And Simmons has led the way with an incredible line, averaging 19.8 points, 12.7 rebounds, 4.85 assists and 1.8 steals. No wonder the worldwide leader loves the Australian, who said that 28 of LSU’s regular-season games can been seen this season back in his home country.
“They want to promote the next generation going into the NBA,” Simmon said. “Hype it up, me versus Buddy or whatever, LSU versus Oklahoma. Of course ESPN’s going to do that for a big game.”
It is potentially a big game for LSU. A loss would not be looked at poorly but a victory could go a long way in the Tigers’ battle to get into the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers have made a quantum leap in the RPI, but in the rankings that came out Thursday they were No. 81.
LSU coach Johnny Jones, in his fourth year at the helm of his alma mater, where he played in plenty of big games and then worked them as Dale Brown‘s assistant, has obviously set the laid-back tone for his team.
“We were fortunate enough to play a No. 1 team in the country when Kentucky came here last year (and almost scored the upset) and our fan base showed up,” Jones said.
“Any time you have the No. 1 team in the country coming to your home floor — and obviously it’s not anything you can schedule this late in the season — it’s fun for us and a great opportunity, not only for our team but for our fan base to enjoy it up close and personal.”
The Sooners rank tops in the nation in 3-pointers, hitting .467 percent and has hit 10 or more 13 times. And Oklahoma is an outstanding defensive team, too.
There have been, of course, so many big games and subsequent victories for LSU in the Assembly Center, not all against No. 1 teams but against highly ranked opponents that have never left ESPN or CBS shortchanged. The last time LSU beat a No. 1 was in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, when the Tigers stunned Duke en route to theFinal Four.
There have been four games since against No. 1, but LSU has failed to win them.
And that’s part of the hype for Saturday, a rare hard sellout expected, students waiting on line to get into the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, and ESPN bringing the fun guys, Brent Musberger on play-by-play, the inimitable Dick Vitale making his first appearance in the building in a while, and football-sidelines stalwart Holly Rowe on the court.
The game, pitting teams from different leagues, comes right in the middle of the conference season.”
“It’s unique,” LSU senior Keith Hornsby said. “Normally this time of year we’re playing against the same familiar opponents in the SEC. This is a break from that, having a big-time game and a Big 12 opponent that’s had a lot of success and it should be just what we want and it should be an amazing environment.”
That’s not lost on the coach.
“For what the SEC is trying to accomplish I think it’s excellent,” Jones said. “It’s the time of year when a lot of people are tuned in to college basketball and conversations about the NCAA Tournament have already started … I think it’s really good and for the Big 12. I think a lot of people will be tuned in and it’s good for both leagues and it can certainly have a big impact for your program and your team this time of year.”
The matchup certainly does have an NCAA feel to it and that’s the beauty of non-conference made-for-TV games. Jones, for example, has never coached against Oklahoma. The Sooners’ coach, Lon Kruger, played against LSU plenty when he was at Florida, which, you may recall, he took to the 1994 Final Four. Kruger was 2-5 against LSU during his tenure in Gainesville.
After Saturday, LSU has 10 games left, all in the SEC, starting with a trip to Auburn next Tuesday. There are no breaks and every game counts, which is probably the biggest reason why the Tigers are buying into the company line.
“We’re very excited about playing them,” admitted sophomore Tim Quarterman, who likely will guard Hield quite a bit. “We’re excited about them coming to town, but we’re just trying to stay focused on the game plan and trying to execute.”