BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 16/16 Alabama men’s basketball team got back to its winning ways Saturday afternoon at LSU, defeating the Tigers 109-92 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. With the win, the Crimson Tide (17-7, 9-2 SEC) completes a season sweep of the Tigers, scoring a combined 218 points in the two victories (won 109-88 on Jan. 27).
Saturday’s contest featured 17 lead changes and six ties, with 15 lead changes and all six ties coming in the opening 20 minutes. LSU (12-11, 4-6 SEC) trailed by double digits early in the second half but clawed its way back to take a 73-72 lead at the 9:32 mark. Alabama responded by going on a 26-9 run over the next 5:29 to take control of the game at 98-82. The Tide would go on to score 60 points after intermission to take the 17-point win.
Five Tide players reached double digits led by Mark Sears, who finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Latrell Wrightsell Jr., who added 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Nick Pringle (17), Rylan Griffin (16) and Aaron Estrada (15) also reached double figures.
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
“This was a big road win and that we needed to get it if we are trying to stay in the hunt and win the league. LSU came ready to go and we had no answer for (Will) Baker in the first half. Then they made their run to take the lead in the second half and we were able to open up a barrage of three’s. We were only able to force 12 turnovers, but we scored on most of them. I thought the job that Nick Pringle did in the second half was really good on Baker. We ended up outrebounding them by 12, which we knew we needed to do playing a small lineup. Latrell (Wrightsell Jr.) had a double-double for the first time this year and he played great. He shot six-of-nine from three and we keep trying to tell him he can’t turn down open threes because he shoots it way too well to turn them down. I still think he might’ve turned some open ones down tonight, but he was great, with 10 rebounds. I thought Sears played a great game, he ended up with five assists on only two turnovers, Rylan had six assists and zero turnovers, Latrell had four assists and zero turnovers and Estrada seven assists and one turnover and when you add that up its 22 assists to only three turnovers. That is pretty impressive from those four guards that started. We’ve been on these guys about rebounding,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at University of Alabama Athletics…