The Alabama Crimson Tide secured a victory against LSU in a tightly contested SEC basketball game. Despite the absence of starting guard Mark Sears for the entire second half, Alabama managed to prevail. Sears's benching was a mystery, but the Crimson Tide's depth at guard, led by Aden Holloway and Chris Youngblood, proved crucial. The game saw a dominant first half from LSU, particularly in rebounding, but Alabama rallied in the second half, showcasing improved offensive production and defensive prowess.
The Alabama and LSU men's basketball programs came into SEC play with the same record, but they've each had very different results when facing indisputably the nation's best conference this season. Nevertheless, that didn't matter in this one as the game was close from start to finish.No Sears, No Problem for Alabama Backcourt
"I'll just say this, and I'm not going to talk anymore about playing time stuff, we went with the guys in the second half that thought gave us the best chance to win this game, and we won the game," Alabama head coach. "And we haven't done that very often this year. So that's all I'm going to say about that."
That starting spot had previously been occupied by freshman guard Labaron Philon, who scored 11 points off the bench Saturday and is still seeking to fully emerge from some recent struggles, including a game on Jan. 14 in which he didn't hit on a field goal attempt. He was also dealing with a minor ankle tweak and did not practice Friday."LSU is capable of beating us at home.
But a switch flipped in the Crimson Tide's favor during the second half as LSU only had four offensive rebounds and four second-chance points in the latter 20 minutes. Dioubate finished with 14 points while Nelson had 12 and Omoruyi scored eight with four offensive rebounds . Richard Hendrix was the last Alabama player to put up 20 rebounds in a game and he did in 2007. Chest had 15 in the first half but only three in the second, none of which came on the offensive glass.While Alabama's offense was relatively linear throughout, the Crimson Tide's defense was jolted out of bed with a different tenacity. These efforts led to LSU finishing the game shooting 39.4 percent from the field, including a rough 3-for-23 performance from behind the arc.
Alabama Basketball LSU Basketball SEC Basketball Mark Sears Aden Holloway Chris Youngblood Corey Chest Rebounding Close Game
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