TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama basketball is lone unbeaten in SEC play. If the Crimson Tide continues to play anywhere near the level it did Saturday, it could remain that way for the rest of the season.
No. 4 Alabama made easy work of a struggling LSU team, blowing out the Tigers inside Coleman Coliseum, 106-66. The 40-point rout marks Alabama’s biggest margin of victory in an SEC game under head coach Nate Oats, topping the 115-82 blowout of Georgia on Feb. 13, 2021. Saturday’s rout puts Alabama on top of the SEC standings as it was coupled with No. 5 Tennessee’s 63-56 loss to Kentucky.
"I challenged our guys before the game to make sure they were ready to go out of the gate," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. "We needed to play harder than them. ... Really out defense in the first half, our offensive rebounding and a lot of the effort stuff, that's what I was most happy with."
Here are three takeaways from Alabama's blowout win against LSU.
Brandon Miller bounces back
Brandon Miller came out with something to prove.
After failing to register a shot from the field in Alabama's road win against Arkansas, the freshman made his presence felt early against LSU on Saturday. In the first possession of the game, Miller nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing which not only got him going but made him nearly impossible to stop. The freshman tallied a game-high 22 points in the first half the same amount of points LSU had in the first half.
That streak continued well into the second half as Miller maintained his torrid scoring pace, tying LSU with 26 points with 16:25 left in the second half. Miller finished the game with 31 points which becomes his second performance where he's scored 30 or more points this season. The last time Miller accomplished the feat was in Alabama's 100-90 loss to Gonzaga.
When asked if he noticed anything different about Miller coming into Saturday, Oats said he "didn't sense anything different."
"But it's not a bad thing because he's been pretty good all year," Oats said. "We kind of ran that first set to get him going and he hit it. He's not the kind of kid that needs to hit his first shot to get going. I mean he can miss his first two and still get going because he has a lot of confidence. If he misses a couple it's not going to shake him, but when you're locked in, you're locked in."
Alabama dominates on the glass
Nate Oats stressed the importance of dominating on the offensive glass, a message the team received and executed on Saturday.
In the first half, Alabama tallied 13 offensive rebounds with LSU tallying just 16 total rebounds for the half. As a result, the Crimson Tide dominated in the points in the paint margin and second-chance points dominating the Tigers by double digits in both categories. Alabama finished the game with 20 offensive rebounds en route to 52 total rebounds. Miller led the team with nine rebounds while Nick Pringle and Noah Clowney tied for the team lead on the offensive glass recording four offensive boards a piece.
It was the best performance on the glass since Alabama drafted then-No. 1 North Carolina at the Phil Knight Invitational when it tallied 58 rebounds, 20 of which came at the offensive end, in a 103-101 victory in overtime.
"I feel like we did good on the offensive glass which we really have been preaching since the summer," Miller said. "I think that's the thing that really gets us going."
Tide continues to shore up turnover problems
Despite coming into Saturday's matchup with one of the worst turnover margins in the country, Oats said the Crimson Tide has responded toward simplifying the offense.
It's worked as Alabama recorded its fourth-consecutive conference win where it tallied 13 turnovers or less. Alabama's eight turnovers marks the third time in the team's last four contests that it hasn't coughed up the ball more than double digits.
The Crimson Tide also turned LSU over 10 times in the win which allowed Alabama to get out in transition. The Crimson Tide scored 19 points off of turnovers along with 15 fastbreak points in one of its most dominant performances of the season.
"We had turnover issues and we put a big point of emphasis on it and three of the last four games we've been in single digits," Oats said. "It's good to see turnovers back in the single digits."