Nijel Pack details resume building win over LSU for Oklahoma

Nijel Pack knew a win Saturday would help Oklahoma’s resume ahead of the postseason. Being above .500 is always a giant step in a tough league like the SEC.

The Sooners improved to 15-14 on the season with an 83-67 win over LSU on the road. With only two games remaining before the SEC Tournament, Oklahoma can continue its winning streak to make its March Madness case.

“We take this as an opportunity. You know, we’re blessed to be in one of the best leagues in the country, where every night we get an opportunity to build our resume,” Pack said on SEC Network postgame. And that’s the way we take it every night. We know it’s a challenge, but we go in there like our record 0-0, we just want to go 1-0 on the day, and then worry about the next game when the time comes.”

Pack finished the game with a game-high 21 points, two rebounds and four assists. Xzayvier Brown aided the cause with 20 points, two rebounds and two steals.

However, it was the defense that was mentioned first by Pack. If Oklahoma is going to have success in March and make their case, they need to win with defending all facets of the game.

“I think firstly for us, is defending,” Pack said. “We know we’re a great offensive team. We know we can score, we know we can put points in the basket. But for us, we can keep the other team shooting below their averages, taking away the things that they want to do, and kind of make them second guess themselves. 

“We give ourselves a chance to win every night. So every time we go out, we want to (play good) defense.”

One of the biggest keys for Oklahoma Saturday night, as well as going into the SEC Tournament, is the return of Dayton Forsythe. In 17 minutes, he put up 13 points.

“Yeah, totally different team out there,” Pack said. “You can see, when we’re having a three guard rotation, keeps us fresh, me and Xzayvier having to play less minutes. When Dayton comes in, he always gives us a boost. And even the other guys off the bench are giving us boosts. And I think that’s what’s changing this team. We’re getting a more all around effort from everybody. It just makes us hard to guard, but Dayton’s just a great player.

“And you know, when we lost him, it was just a lot more stress (for me and X), and now that he’s back, we can feel some of that stress lifted off our shoulders, and we’re just playing better basketball.”

If Pack is to continue this solid play, it’s due to his solid work ethic. If anyone can carry the team in March, it might be him.

“Yeah, first, I mean, God blessed me with the talent and opportunity to be here,” Pack said. “Without that, I’m nothing. And obviously a lot of hard work, a lot of hard work went into my game, a lot of talent is nice, (but I put) hours putting up shots. Sometimes, you know, when things wasn’t going my way, just keeping my head up and smiling through the negativity. And then my teammates and my coaches, they give me the utmost confidence in the game, and I just go out there and play the game and don’t even think.”