Alabama came into Saturday’s game against LSU undefeated in SEC play and walked away with its fifth conference win, 106-66, dominating the Tigers from start to finish. The 40-point win for the Crimson Tide was the largest margin of victory in an SEC game under head coach Nate Oats, surpassing the 33-point blowout of Georgia in 2021.
Earlier in the week against Arkansas, Brandon Miller had a slow start, failing to register any points or even a shot in the first half, but today he came out ready to prove a point. Just 15 seconds into the game, Miller drained a three-pointer in the first possession of the game and stayed hot totaling 22 points in the first half, the same amount of points as LSU would finish the first half with. Miller would continue the hot shooting in the second half and finish the game with a game high 31 points to go along with his game high nine rebounds.
Miller’s impact on the glass helped lead Alabama to a dominating performance on the boards, winning the rebounding battle 52-38. In the first half alone, Alabama pulled down 13 offensive rebounds while LSU only had 16 total rebounds in the first half. The dominance on the glass led to the Crimson Tide winning both the second chance points and points in the paint categories. Noah Clowney and Nick Pringle both chipped in with eight and seven rebounds respectively.
The Crimson Tide came into the matchup Saturday being one of the worst teams in the country in turnover margin. Protecting the basketball has been a key focus point for Nate Oats to get through to his team over the past few games. Alabama has seen some gradual improvement in recent games, recording its fourth consecutive game with 13 turnovers or less. Alabama finished the game with just eight turnovers while turning LSU over 11 times.
With their win Saturday, combined with Tennessee’s loss to Kentucky, Alabama jumps to the top of the SEC standings, and if they can perform anywhere close to how they did today, they could finish the season on top as well.
Next up on Alabama’s schedule is a road game against Vanderbilt Tuesday, January 17.
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