No. 22 LSU Basketball Secures 90-76 Double-Digit Victory Over Alabama
Coming into Wednesday night's game against Alabama, coach Will Wade wanted to see his team hold onto a big lead if they were fortunate enough to build one up. The Tigers had squashed double-digit second half leads in each of their previous two games and despite winning both games, Wade wasn't a happy camper.
In fact the words he used were "fed up, sick and tired." Well, after building an 18-point lead in the first half against the Crimson Tide, Wade would get to see if his team had truly learned its lesson.
While Alabama would lay a few punches in the second-half, none of them were huge blows as LSU picked up its first double-digit win in seven games with a 90-76 victory. The Tigers (16-4, 7-0) start their second consecutive season with seven straight conference wins and are now 23-2 over the last two seasons in SEC play.
LSU never let the halftime lead dip below nine as multiple players had moments to shine. There was senior Skylar Mays, who dropped 10 of his 18 total points in the second half. Freshman Trendon Watford and sophomore Emmitt Williams each had double-doubles, with Watford grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds.
After a few intense practices that consisted of LSU solving the root of its late game issues, Mays said the Tigers took a positive step in learning how to close out games the right way.
“That is just how it is. We embrace it. It just makes us play harder," Mays said. "We definitely took some steps today as far as closing games. I think we did a good job of that today.”
"We got enough stops and were able to keep a working margin most of the game," Wade said. "I thought our offense was efficient and well run. We played well. I thought it was one of our better games of the year."
The sequence of the game came with LSU leading by nine with 13:13 remaining and Mays put the team on his back. The senior scored a transition layup, stole the ensuing inbound and fed Aundre Hyatt for an easy layup. It was a four-point swing in a matter of 25 seconds as LSU would not look back.
Alabama came in No. 1 in the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (35.8%) but struggled mightily against the Tigers. With 38 of their 73 field goal attempts coming from beyond-the-arc, the Crimson Tide were only able to knock down 10 threes, a 26% clip.
The Tigers took the opposite approach, pounding the paint for 50 points and connecting on 19-of-20 free throws on the night. LSU would also out-rebound Alabama 49-31 including 14 offensive rebounds.
"We stuck to the game plan. Especially Emmitt and Trendon doing a great job on the offensive glass and getting us extra possessions to take time off the clock," Mays said. "We did a great job of not letting the scoreboard dictate how hard we were competing.”
LSU put together possibly its best half of basketball of the season against Alabama in the first half, dominating nearly every facet of the game. The most important development to transpire was the Tigers' ability to get to the free throw line early and often.
Williams dropped 17 of his game high 23 points in the first half as LSU went 17-of-18 from the free throw line.
"He did a good job of establishing us on the glass and making sure we stayed on the glass and got on the glass," Wade said of Williams. "He had some huge baskets for us in the second half. Our team certainly feeds off his energy. I think the crowd feeds off his energy. He’s got a magnetic personality and people enjoy being around him."
It also helped the Tigers that the Crimson Tide, normally a great sharpshooting team, went 4-for-20 on their triples in the opening frame with their best shooter, John Petty, going 0-for-5.
LSU will next take on an Ole Miss team that is coming off a devastating 83-82 loss to No. 17 Auburn that dropped them to 1-6 in conference play. The game will tip-off at 11 a.m. and be televised on ESPN2 as LSU honors the 50-year anniversary of Pete Maravich breaking the NCAA scoring record, against the Rebels.
