This past week was the LSU men’s basketball team’s chance to add another “W” to the win column.
LSU was facing an Ole Miss team that was 3-5 in the Southeastern Conference and an Arkansas (15-9, 5-6) squad fresh off a three-game losing streak.
Instead, those two games represented the seventh and eighth straight defeats for the Tigers.
It’s been 33 days since LSU (10-15, 2-8) enjoyed the spoils of victory, and it could be 19 more before the team has another chance to grab the elusive third win.
LSU radio play-by-play announcer Jim Hawthorne tried comforting LSU coach Trent Johnson in the postgame interview after Saturday’s 80-61 loss at Arkansas, saying the Tigers return to the PMAC for the next two games.
They have been on the road since Tuesday because of wintry weather, going to Fayetteville, Ark., after Wednesday’s game in Oxford, Miss., instead of returning to Baton Rouge.
Johnson noted Hawthorne’s optimism but understood the reality of LSU’s next two matchups, both of which will be televised on ESPN.
“We got Alabama leading the [SEC] West, and we got Florida leading the [SEC] East,” Johnson said.
The Gators and the Crimson Tide, who the Tigers face Thursday at 8 p.m., are a combined 17-4 in conference play.
The following three games after next week will also be a steep challenge. The trio of Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Georgia are all in the top three of their respective divisions.
LSU’s final game of the season, a March 5 meeting with Auburn (9-15, 2-8), is setting up to be a matchup of futility in the bottom of the SEC West.
Saturday’s 19-point loss against Arkansas stung Johnson for another reason, besides being one of the Tigers’ best chances to grab a conference win.
LSU had improved in its past three games, only losing by an average of five points.
“It’s disappointing because we lost three games going into this one that we showed some life,” Johnson said. “We were playing better. For this to happen … it’s very disappointing.”
The Tigers were turnover prone all afternoon. Junior forward Storm Warren and freshman point guard Andre Stringer each had three of LSU’s 17 turnovers.
“One thing led to another,” Johnson said. “When things start to get bad, it becomes contagious.”
The only time LSU led was after freshman guard Ralston Turner made a free throw to give the Tigers a 1-0 advantage.
LSU stayed competitive until the final 4:37 in the first half, but was outscored 14-2 by the Razorbacks to go to the locker room down 40-22.
“We had a really important final two minutes to end the half, and it was good to see guys go out and make baskets,” Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said in a news release. “To finish the way we did was inspiring.”
Arkansas junior guard Rotnei Clarke’s stats once again told the tale of the game.
Clarke scored in double-figures in the Razorbacks’ four SEC wins and two of their six SEC defeats.
LSU held Clarke to five points Jan. 12 when the Tigers took care of business, 56-53, against the Razorbacks in their first meeting.
Clarke went off Saturday to the tune of 25 points, his second-highest scoring performance of the season.
LSU freshman guard Matt Derenbecker’s 13 points led the Tigers.
Follow Michael Lambert on Twitter @TDR_Lambert.
 
 
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