TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Earlier this week, Nate Oats called Saturday’s game against LSU a “maturity test” for Alabama basketball. If that’s the case, go ahead and slap another big crimson A on the Tide’s resume.
No. 4 Alabama dismantled a struggling LSU, 106-66, marking its largest margin of victory in an SEC game since its 94-53 win over Auburn in 2005. Following Saturday’s game, Oats downplayed the blowout, stating it wasn’t necessarily a “statement win.” He’s got a point considering Alabama (15-2, 5-0 in the SEC) has won 10 of its last 11 games while LSU (12-5, 1-4) has now dropped four straight.
Still, when it comes to a report card, Alabama aced just about every metric.
Rebounds? Alabama dominated LSU down low, winning the battle on the board, 52-38. That included 20 offensive rebounds which helped the Crimson Tide score 32 second-half points.
“I challenged our guys before the game to make sure they were ready to go out of the gate,” Oats said. “We needed to play harder than them. I thought rebounding start the game was outstanding. At one point early in the game and second-chance points were 18-3. … Really our defense in the first half, our offensive rebounding, a lot of effort stuff, that’s what I was most happy with. That’s what we told our guys our focus was going to be on.”
Turnovers? The Tide committed just eight of them, staying well below its season average of 15.7. Even when Alabama did give up the ball, LSU didn’t do much with it as the Tigers came away with just 2 points off the Tide’s miscues. Meanwhile, Alabama scored 19 points on 10 LSU giveaways. The Crimson Tide has now won the turnover battle in each of its last four games, limiting itself to single-digit giveaways three times during that span.
Alabama hit a season-high 20 3s and still outscored LSU 30-18 in the paint. Eight different Crimson Tide players connected from beyond the arc, including walk-on Adam Cottrell, who drew a loud cheer from the Coleman crowd when he drained a corner 3 with 1:39 remaining.
After failing to hit a shot in the first half against Arkansas, Brandon Miller had 22 points while connecting on six 3s before the break Saturday. He finished with 31 points while hitting 7 of 11 shots from deep.
“I think it was just another good win against a great team that we came out early on,” Miller said. “The shots were falling early, so I feel like all we can do now is get back to the basics.”
Along with righting several of its recent wrongs, Alabama’s blowout victory allowed it to take sole possession of first place in the SEC standings. Earlier in the day, No. 5 Tennessee suffered a 63-56 home loss to Kentucky, a team the Crimson Tide smoked by 26 points inside of Coleman Coliseum last weekend. Texas A&M is also undefeated in conference play, but with two fewer SEC wins, it sits a game behind Alabama.
“I talked to our guys before our games you know, I told them Tennessee lost at home against Kentucky; anything can happen in this league,” Oats said. “So let's come out and take care of business. I’ve kind of been talking about guys you know, we got obviously up for the Arkansas game, and we're gonna get old for smaller games, but it's got to be almost surgical, methodical. Prep yourself, do what you have to do. Take care of business. It takes what it takes, and we can not prep for a game because the team's 1-3 or whatever. I think the group’s mature. They showed they came out ready to go."
Alabama will have a new test and another chance to make a statement Tuesday as it travels to Vanderbilt for a 7:30 p.m. CT tipoff inside Memorial Gymnasium. The Commodores are just 9-8 on the year but are coming off a 97-84 victory over Arkansas.
“We’ve got to play every team like they’re capable,” Alabama forward Noah Clowney said. “Don’t underestimate anybody. We’ve got to go out and play like we’re supposed to play every time.”
