Ben Simmons' season at Louisiana State University took another ugly turn when he failed to lead his team to victory against weak opponents.
LSU were desperate for a win when they travelled to the University of Arkansas on Tuesday.
Arkansas had lost seven of their past 12 games, but soundly beat LSU 85-65.
Simmons had five of his team's 13 turnovers and ended the game on the bench after fouling out with a technical following words with a referee.
Any hope the once nationally-ranked LSU had of scoring an invite to the end-of-season NCAA tournament was likely snuffed out with their third straight loss.
Their record fell to 16 wins and 11 losses, while Arkansas improved to 14-14.
Simmons, the 19-year-old from Melbourne, still put up big numbers with his 19th double-double of the year.
He had 23 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, but failed to inspire his teammates.
Their best hope of making the NCAA tournament is to run the table with five wins at the Southeastern Conference knockout tournament that begins on March 9.
The winner earns automatic entry to the NCAA tournament.
While Simmons' reputation as the best player in US college basketball has taken a beating another Australian, Sydney-born freshman 211cm tall centre Isaac Humphries' stocks are rising.
Humphries started for 16th-ranked University of Kentucky in their 78-53 demolition of the University of Alabama, scoring four points, grabbing four rebounds and one block.
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