Preview: LSU Basketball Looking to Get Back on Track at No. 10 Alabama

It was just two weeks ago that LSU was blown off its home court in the most anticipated matchup of the season against No. 10 Alabama. The loss was the first of what has become a troubling losing streak where the Tigers have dropped three of four and at risk of this season spiraling out of control.

The program seemed to be in a pretty good spot before the first round of this matchup but have continued to let prime opportunities slip away. This is a team that has high expectations and Will Wade knows better than most how important it is to get some quality wins down the stretch for NCAA Tournament seeding purposes.

LSU (11-5, 6-3) will have to go on the road to Tuscaloosa and will have to completely flip the script on the Crimson Tide after suffering an embarrassing 105-75 loss a few weeks back.

"Going to have to do a much better job than we did the first outing against them, but they're a tremendous, tremendous ball club. They've got great players, great coaching, great scheme so it'll be a big challenge for us," Wade said.

The challenges are indeed multiple but the biggest piece of news to come out of the last few days is that the team will be without forward Darius Days for the forseeable future. The junior suffered an ankle injury that will keep him out multiple weeks which is a devastating blow as the team's best rebounder and most consistent floor spacer.

As a result, LSU has spent the last few days monitoring what the best course of action is in trying to replace him. There are a number of options the Tigers have tried out but Wade wants to wait until after Tuesday's practice before deciding on a starter.

"There's a lot of things Days brings besides rebounding. Our offensive spacing is going to have to be different because the guys we've got to replace him are a little more limited in the shooting realm than he is," Wade said. "We've got to make sure we're picking it up on the defensive rebounding front with him out for sure."

Of the many viable options which we detailed here, the one that checks off many of the boxes is forward Shareef O'Neal. While O'Neal hasn't been near the offensive player from a scoring perspective most thought, he's an elite rebounder and has the ability to space the floor.

Wade agreed that O'Neal is one of the players who should benefit in terms of playing time and opportunity with the absence of Days and also talked about unlocking him as a scoring threat.

"He’s a really, really good shooter, he does a great job finishing around the basket. You know, we believe in him and I believe in Shareef," Wade said. "I have an unbelievable amount of belief and trust in him. He does a lot of things that can help our team win. Whether he’s making a basket or not, he does a lot of things that can help our team win. But he’s certainly very capable and a very, very good offensive player."

In regards to improvement against the Crimson Tide this go around, Wade pointed to transition defense and defensive rebounding as the two areas LSU must be at its best in to have a chance. Alabama drained an SEC record 23 three pointers back on Jan. 19 and Wade said a lot of them came on second chance opportunities and poor transition defense.

"We have a basic defensive philosophy that's contrary to popular belief it actually, in the half-court our defense is stifling, it's very good," Wade said. "It would actually be elite if you just did it by the numbers. Problem is our transition defense and rebounding. We've certainly got to make some tweaks and make some adjustments to what we do. It'd just be stupid to try and go in there and do the same thing we were doing the first time."

It's as close to a must win as LSU has had all season and tip off will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday evening on ESPNU.