Oklahoma surges ahead early, cruises past LSU

Nijel Pack scored 21 points, Xzayvier Brown had 20 and Oklahoma pulled away from LSU 83-67 on Saturday in Baton Rouge, La.

Dayton Forsythe scored 13 points and Mohamed Wague added 10 for the Sooners (15-14, 5-11 Southeastern Conference), who won for the fourth time in six games since a nine-game losing streak.

Max Mackinnon scored 17 points, PJ Carter had 12, Michael Nwoko added 11 and Pablo Tamba had 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Tigers (15-14, 3-13), who lost for the sixth time in seven games.

Mackinnon made a layup to start the second-half scoring and pull LSU within six points, but Oklahoma pushed the lead to nine three times. Tamba's two free throws trimmed the lead to 51-46 with 14:13 left in the second half.

The margin stayed between five and nine points throughout the first 10-plus minutes of the half until Pack made a 3-pointer that gave the Sooners a 64-52 lead. Brown scored the next five points and Tae Davis added a dunk to produce a 17-point advantage, 71-52, with 7:48 remaining.

Mackinnon made two free throws to end Oklahoma's 12-0 run, but Pack answered with a jumper. Carter's 3-pointer ended a 3 1/2-minute field-goal drought for the Tigers, but the Sooners expanded the lead to 79-57 with 5:54 remaining.

Carter had back-to-back 3-pointers to complete and 8-0 run that pulled LSU within 14, but Davis made two free throws and Brown added a layup to push the lead to 18 with 3:31 left.

LSU scored the first five points of the game, but Oklahoma scored the next 10, five of which came from Brown. Jalen Reece made a 3-pointer to stop the run before five different Sooners scored to extend the lead to 20-11.

Carter answered with a 3-pointer and Nwoko added a jumper, but Oklahoma pushed the lead to eight points on two occasions. The Tigers closed within 28-25 on Tamba's three-point play, then Oklahoma increased the lead to 38-29 on a jumper by Kirill Elatontsev.

LSU crept within five, but Pack's 3-pointer with 3 seconds to go gave the Sooners a 41-33 halftime lead.

--Field Level Media