LSU lost steam when Alabama kicked into high gear and began to run. The Tide were on the rise.
During the first eighteen minutes of Saturday’s game, the LSU basketball team faced off against an Alabama squad that has been scoring points quickly this year.
It appeared that the Tigers would have a difficult evening when the Crimson Tide, who had started the game with a miss, got up and confidently made four consecutive 3-pointers.
In the first three minutes of play, Alabama made it clear that anyone who was expecting a letdown after its hard-fought 79-75 victory over No. 8 Auburn three nights earlier on the same Coleman Coliseum floor was mistaken.
But LSU remained unfazed and played Alabama largely evenly until the last two minutes of the first half, when the Crimson Tide, with a narrow 44-42 lead, decided to pick up the tempo a bit.
They gave the Tigers a teeny taste of what they can do at any given time when they scored six points in a row in 62 seconds.
With just 28 seconds remaining, Derek Fountain’s tip-in of a Jalen Cook miss gave the Tigers their biggest lead of the game, 50-42, but it only served to temporarily stem the flow.
About the first half, LSU coach Matt McMahon stated, “Both teams played at a really, really high level on the offensive side of the ball.” “The game was close there, with very few turnovers.” Then, we suffered two costly turnovers in the final three minutes.”
Only three fastbreak points remained for Alabama going into the last minute. When they get out and take full advantage of the open floor, that was an exceptionally low number for a team that ranked 28th in the nation in scoring 14.7 points per game.
However, in a portentous moment, LSU’s Hunter Dean mishandled the ball beneath his own hoop, setting Alabama up for a quick break layup by Aaron Estrada.
That set the stage for a 59-point second-half assault that helped the Tide build a 23-point lead after, with 15:06 remaining, a 14-7 run had pushed the lead to double digits (64-53).
There was no stopping the Crimson Tide once they put on their running shoes and took off.
Nate Oats’ team won easily 109-88, scoring 17 points in the first half. This is the sixth time this season that they have scored 100 points.
Alabama now leads Tennessee by a half-game atop the SEC standings, and when the latest AP poll is released on Monday, it will be in the rankings for the first time since November 27. Last week, The Tide was ranked 29.
After his team’s fourth loss in five games, McMahon remarked, “There was a big stretch in the second half where we weren’t able to get to the rim and finish plays.” “You’re in their transition game now that they’ve blocked some of those wall-ups.
“They only had five points in transition, and a lot of (their) points came from excellent halfcourt execution. I know they scored too many points in the first half.”
Although Alabama entered the game averaging 88.6 points per game, fourth in Division I, and fifth in made 3-pointers per game with 11.3, it wasn’t entirely unexpected. Additionally, it ranked 16th in 3-point accuracy and 10th in free throws made per game.
It was also not surprising that it collapsed so quickly in the second half, even though McMahon had to be pleased with the first half despite conceding 50 points.
At the end of the day, though, the 22 total points allowed in transition constituted a serious issue.
“They got those stops in the second half,” he stated. “We were severely injured by a few fast shots we took. This bolstered their transition game, and as we just witnessed, they are capable of scoring a lot of points quickly.
