Coleman Coliseum hasn’t been a great place for the LSU Tigers (24-5, 14-2 SEC) since the start of the millennium, winning only twice against Alabama (17-12, 8-8 SEC) in that time frame. The Crimson Tide gave LSU a real challenge until the final moments on the way to a 74-69 win by the Tigers, giving them a perfect record on the road in SEC play.
How It Happened:
The LSU Tigers came out the gates strong with a 7-0 lead at the first media timeout, but Alabama responded coming out of that timeout and got the deficit down to three points. LSU started to pull away with 9:43 left in the first half getting out to an 11-point lead, but the Crimson Tide wrapped up the first half with a 14-6 run to cut the deficit to one point as both teams made their way to the locker room.
The second half saw the Tigers hold onto the lead thanks to some solid shooting early, but Alabama wasn’t about to go away quietly and went on a 12-2 run to take control of the ballgame with 11:20 left in regulation. Both teams then began to exchange the lead back and forth, but after the final media timeout LSU took back control with a layup by Skylar Mays followed up by a turnover from Riley Norris that resulted in a dunk by Mays and that was enough to give the Tigers an important win.
Big Number: 13
13 was actually a pretty lucky number for LSU. 13 rebounds for Naz Reid, 13 turnovers by Alabama, and 13 points off of those aforementioned turnovers.
Player of the Game: Naz Reid
While Skylar Mays led the team offensively with 20 points on the afternoon, Reid was better when it comes to a complete performance with 12 points and 13 rebounds. A really impressive performance by him, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Next Up: Wednesday vs Florida; Tipoff at 6 pm
-Clint Domingue