The 3rd/4th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide did not play up to their ranking on Saturday night, but were able to stumble to a 80-73 win over the LSU Tigers in Coleman Coliseum. Bama improved to 17-3, 6-1 in the SEC while the Bayou Bengals fell to 12-7 and 1-5 in league play. For much of the season the Tide has played down to the competition, and that continued on Saturday night. The game was tied 40-40 after the first half.
Coach Nate Oats sent out Mark Sears, Chris Youngblood, Grant Nelson, Jarin Stevenson, and Clifford Omoruyi to start the game, as he has for much of the season. Labaron Philon had tweaked an ankle in practice this week and Oats felt Youngblood could help the team get off to a quick start in the game. Slow starts have plagued the Tide over the last several games. The strategy didn’t work right away as the Tigers jumped out to a 7-2 lead. However Youngblood scored seven quick points and Bama led 9-7 at the 15:47 mark.
At the first timeout Oats left Youngblood on the floor and added Mo Dioubate, Aiden Sherrell, Aden Holloway, and Philon. The tough Tigers were making a rock fight out of the game with physical play and were dominating the Tide on the boards. The game was back and forth before Philon nailed a three pointer for a 38-35 lead. LSU bounced back for five straight points but a pair of Nelson free throws tied the game at 40 each at the break.
In the first half Bama shot 13-26 for 50%, 4-12 for 33% from deep, and made 10-13 free throws. The Tide had 16 rebounds, only four offensively, zero blocks, five steals, 10 assists, and eight turnovers. Youngblood led the way with 11 points, Holloway added seven, and Dioubate tossed in six. All American Mark Sears played 17 minutes, and was 0-5 from the field, had zero points, three rebounds, three assists, and two turnovers. The minutes were the last Sears would see on the night.
LSU shot 15-38 for 39%, 2-14 for 14% from three, and made 8-10 at the chairty stripe. The Tigers grabbed 23 rebounds with 13 of them being offensive. The visitors also had seven steals, two blocks, seven assists, and six turnovers. Corey Chest dominated the Tide with 10 points and 15 rebounds in the first half. Jordan Sears scored 10 points and dished five assists in the period.
Oats shook things up to start the second half. Stevenson, Nelson, Youngblood, Dioubate, and Holloway were the second half starters. The Tide’s effort defensively and on the boards improved in the second half, but the game was back and forth throughout the period. Down 50-49, Holloway drilled a three pointer for a 52-50 lead with 15:02 left. Nelson added a three pointer to push the lead to 53-58 with 11:45 remaining. Bama’s defense was getting consistent stops but the offensive couldn’t quite put together the run needed to put the game out of reach.
Six straight free throws from Holloway, Philon, and Youngblood finally stretched the lead out to 73-64 with 3:03 left. Dioubate got downhill to the hoop for a couple of baskets and with 2:03 left the lead seemed comfortable at 77-64. Not so fast my friend. Some quick shots that didn’t fall allowed LSU to go on a 7-0 run (helped by a phantom foul call on a missed three pointer) mostly without the clock running. Philon was fouled and made 2-2 at the line, and Nelson went 1-2 with 36 seconds left and the Tide was able to hold on 80-73 for the win.
In the second half Bama shot 14-35 for 40%, 3-11 for 27% from three, and made 9-11 free throws. Overall the Tide shot 27-61 for 44%, 7-23 for 30% from three, and made 19-24 for 79% at the free throw line. Alabama finished with 41 rebounds, 11 offensively, 10 steals, 15 assists, two blocks, and committed 14 turnovers. Holloway was the leading scored with 19 points and had four rebounds in 29 minutes. Dioubate continued his strong play with 14 points and six rebounds. Youngblood scored 13 and rebounded five. Nelson scored 12,
had three rebounds and two assists. Philon was also in double figures with 11 points and contributed three rebounds and three assists. Omoruyi had a strong second half and scored eight points with nine rebounds, three assists, and a pair of blocks.
LSU shot 13-33 for 39% in the second with 1-9 from deep while making 6-9 free throws. For the game the Tigers shot 28-71 for 39%, 3-23 from three for 13% and 14-19 for 74% at the charity stripe. The Bengals had 43 rebounds, 17 offensively, five blocks, 12 steals, 10 assists, and 14 turnovers. Sears scored 21 points and dished out six assists to led the Tigers. Cam Carter had 17 points, Chest was held to two points and three rebounds in the second half but still finished with 12 points and 18 rebounds.
After the game Oats was not in the mood to discuss Sears second half benching, saying only “I’ll say this, and I’m not going to talk anymore about playing time stuff, we went with the guys in the second half that I thought gave us the best chance to win this game, and we won this game.” Message sent, remains to be seen if received. With Derrion Reid, Latrell Wrightsell Jr., and Houston Mallette all still out, with Sears sitting the Tide was down to eight players, and one of those was Sherrell, who plays only limited minutes. Oats went with the old Wimp Sanders seven man rotation in the second half.
Bama has had a problem all year of playing down to the competition. That bit them in the butt earlier with a home loss to Ole Miss. The same thing could have happened in this game. Holloway and Youngblood’s scoring and Dioubate’s “off road” package allowed the Tide to escape, but down the road that may not happen. Hopefully Oats got their attention.
Next up is a road trip to Starkville to play the tough 20th ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs. The game is Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT and will be on the SEC Network.
