GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU’s sinking-fast basketball team will face its exact opposite as far as one critical statistic on Saturday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (7:30 p.m., SEC Network).
No. 25 Ole Miss (17-6, 6-4 SEC) is tied for No. 1 in the nation with Marquette in fewest turnovers a game with 8.9. LSU (12-10, 1-8 SEC) is 324th in the nation of 355 teams and last in the SEC in turnovers with 14.2 a game.
The Rebels had all of one turnover with 24 assists in a 98-84 victory over No. 14 Kentucky on Tuesday night in Oxford, Mississippi.
“Too many empty possessions,” LSU coach Matt McMahon has said repeatedly of his team’s turnover problem that he has been unable to turn around. The Tigers are averaging 15.8 turnovers a game in their current five-game losing streak.
And it has led to an empty season. LSU is in 15th place in the 16-team SEC, leading only South Carolina (10-12, 0-9). But the Tigers did improve their turnover problem in their latest loss – 81-62 at Georgia on Wednesday – with just 12 miscues.
LSU LOSSES REMINISCENT OF GROUNDHOG DAY MOVIE
Ole Miss defeated LSU, 77-65, in Oxford on Jan. 11 as the Tigers committed 17 turnovers to 13.
The Rebels’ single turnover against Kentucky – by senior guard Sean Pedulla – marked the fewest turnovers in an SEC game in 25 years.
“Pedulla ruined that memory, right? I was actually kind of thinking about that as the first half went on, because I’ve always envisioned that night being pretty special,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said. “Pedulla just one loose-ball-handling play away from doing something I’ve always chased my career. It’s not about me, but I just always thought it’d be cool to coach a team that had zero turnovers in a game.”
For McMahon, a game with single-digit turnovers would be a godsend. That has not happened since his Tigers had six in a 110-45 win over Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 29.
“We’ll have to regroup,” McMahon said after the Georgia loss.
That is another comment he has repeated often this season.
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