No. 10 Alabama basketball drained an SEC-record 23 shots from beyond the arc during its win over LSU last month. Wednesday, the Crimson Tide did its damage a bit closer to the rim.
Alabama dominated down low to roll to a 78-60 victory over LSU inside of Coleman Coliseum. With the win, the Tide (15-4, 10-0 in the SEC) completed a regular-season sweep of the Tigers (11-6, 6-4) for the first time since 2018. Alabama remains the only SEC team undefeated in conference play as it is off to its best start since the 1955-56 “Rocket 8” team finished the year with a perfect 14-0 mark in league play.
"We've got to find ways to win when we're not hitting 23 3s," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. "I told our guys we may not do that. LSU came out and guarded us a lot better than the first time. You would have expected that. They've got some pride over there in what we did to them in their gym. We anticipated them playing us a lot better, and they did."
During its trip to Baton Rouge, La. last month, Alabama lit it up from 3, hitting 23 of 43 (53.5 percent) of its shots from range. Wednesday, the Tide couldn’t find the same rhythm from deep, shooting 6 of 24 from 3. That didn’t end up proving costly as Alabama bullied LSU 52-26 in the paint while outrebounding the Tigers 51-35.
LSU was without leading rebounder Darius Days, who suffered a knee injury against Texas Tech over the weekend. Alabama came into the matchup banged up itself as Jordan Bruner missed his sixth straight game with a knee injury while Herbert Jones (hip/back) and James Rojas (medical condition) played at less than 100 percent.
Alex Reese, who has been battling a nagging knee injury himself the past few games, helped pick up the slack, contributing 13 points and four rebounds. The senior had to leave for the locker room after being poked in the face during the first half but was able to return to the game despite picking up a nasty cut under his right eye.
"Reese has been working," Oats said. "He's been in the gym shooting. Coach [Bryan Hodgson] and him after practice, they've been in the gym. It was good to see him hit that 3 in front of the bench. I thought offensively he gave us 13 points, but he did a great job defensively on Trendon [Watford], too. He cut him off, forced a turnover on one play. We're really happy for him.
"We're missing Bruner, but the way Reese has been playing the last two games we're not going to miss him as much."
Alabama also held a sizable advantage in bench points, outscoring LSU 34-7. The Tide had three reserves reach double-digits on the night. Juwan Gary reached season-highs with 12 points and seven rebounds while Keon Ellis tallied 10 points and seven boards. Jahvon Quinerly broke a string of poor performances, scoring 10 points on 2 of 3 shooting from deep.
"The bench was huge for us," Alabama guard Jaden Shackelford said. "The way they played is just a testament to how hard they work and just being ready at all times. That was huge for us tonight."
Shackelford led Alabama with 19 points despite shooting 1 of 7 from beyond the arc. John Petty had just 6 points but tallied a team-high five assists to go with seven rebounds.
After taking a 36-30 lead into the half, Alabama pulled away after the break as LSU missed its first eight shots to begin the period. The Tide took advantage of the Tigers’ offensive shortcomings, using a 16-2 run to put the game comfortably out of reach at 54-34 with 12:53 remaining.
Alabama was able to go on a game-clinching run with Jones on the bench as the senior forward picked up his fourth foul with 17:05 remaining. Jones didn’t check back into the game, giving him a much-needed easy shift on the night. He finished with 4 points and a team-high eight rebounds over 16 minutes.
Alabama will put its undefeated start to SEC play to the test over the weekend as it travels to take on No. 18 Missouri on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT.
Alabama dominated down low to roll to a 78-60 victory over LSU inside of Coleman Coliseum. With the win, the Tide (15-4, 10-0 in the SEC) completed a regular-season sweep of the Tigers (11-6, 6-4) for the first time since 2018. Alabama remains the only SEC team undefeated in conference play as it is off to its best start since the 1955-56 “Rocket 8” team finished the year with a perfect 14-0 mark in league play.
"We've got to find ways to win when we're not hitting 23 3s," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. "I told our guys we may not do that. LSU came out and guarded us a lot better than the first time. You would have expected that. They've got some pride over there in what we did to them in their gym. We anticipated them playing us a lot better, and they did."
During its trip to Baton Rouge, La. last month, Alabama lit it up from 3, hitting 23 of 43 (53.5 percent) of its shots from range. Wednesday, the Tide couldn’t find the same rhythm from deep, shooting 6 of 24 from 3. That didn’t end up proving costly as Alabama bullied LSU 52-26 in the paint while outrebounding the Tigers 51-35.
LSU was without leading rebounder Darius Days, who suffered a knee injury against Texas Tech over the weekend. Alabama came into the matchup banged up itself as Jordan Bruner missed his sixth straight game with a knee injury while Herbert Jones (hip/back) and James Rojas (medical condition) played at less than 100 percent.
Alex Reese, who has been battling a nagging knee injury himself the past few games, helped pick up the slack, contributing 13 points and four rebounds. The senior had to leave for the locker room after being poked in the face during the first half but was able to return to the game despite picking up a nasty cut under his right eye.
"Reese has been working," Oats said. "He's been in the gym shooting. Coach [Bryan Hodgson] and him after practice, they've been in the gym. It was good to see him hit that 3 in front of the bench. I thought offensively he gave us 13 points, but he did a great job defensively on Trendon [Watford], too. He cut him off, forced a turnover on one play. We're really happy for him.
"We're missing Bruner, but the way Reese has been playing the last two games we're not going to miss him as much."
Alabama also held a sizable advantage in bench points, outscoring LSU 34-7. The Tide had three reserves reach double-digits on the night. Juwan Gary reached season-highs with 12 points and seven rebounds while Keon Ellis tallied 10 points and seven boards. Jahvon Quinerly broke a string of poor performances, scoring 10 points on 2 of 3 shooting from deep.
"The bench was huge for us," Alabama guard Jaden Shackelford said. "The way they played is just a testament to how hard they work and just being ready at all times. That was huge for us tonight."
Shackelford led Alabama with 19 points despite shooting 1 of 7 from beyond the arc. John Petty had just 6 points but tallied a team-high five assists to go with seven rebounds.
After taking a 36-30 lead into the half, Alabama pulled away after the break as LSU missed its first eight shots to begin the period. The Tide took advantage of the Tigers’ offensive shortcomings, using a 16-2 run to put the game comfortably out of reach at 54-34 with 12:53 remaining.
Alabama was able to go on a game-clinching run with Jones on the bench as the senior forward picked up his fourth foul with 17:05 remaining. Jones didn’t check back into the game, giving him a much-needed easy shift on the night. He finished with 4 points and a team-high eight rebounds over 16 minutes.
Alabama will put its undefeated start to SEC play to the test over the weekend as it travels to take on No. 18 Missouri on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT.
Last edited:
