The LSU Tigers wrapped up their two game road trip with a visit to Tuscaloosa. The Tide dropped five games in their non-conference schedule, but have been one of the hottest teams since SEC play began. Sitting at 5-1 in conference play coming into this game, the Tide could takeover first place in the conference with a win.
On the other side, LSU came into this game on a two game losing streak. They started SEC play 3-1 and desperately wanted to avoid falling to 3-4 with a loss to Alabama.
After a high scoring game, the Tide went home with their sixth SEC win of the season. It wasn't the Tigers best performance of the season, and here's what I took away from the Tigers fourth SEC loss.
1. A whole lotta offense
If you like offense, this was the game for you. Alabama entered with the No. 3 scoring offense in the country, and while LSU ranked just 95th in the nation in points per game, Alabama's 235th scoring defense allowed the Tigers to score a lot.
By the first commercial break, the score was 15-11. The Tide shot 5-for-7 and hit four threes while the Tigers shot 4-for-8 and hit two threes. By the time these teams hit the locker room, the Tide led by a score of 50-44.
In the second half, the offense didn't slow down much. Alabama took their offense to another level, scoring 59 points in the final 20 minutes. On the other side, the Tigers offense struggled a bit, but still scored 44 points (on 36.8% shooting). We saw a total of 197 points in this game, which is the most of any LSU game this season.
From start to finish, this both teams put the pedal to the metal, and it made for a very entertaining game.
2. Alabama dictated the pace of the whole game
To have the No. 3 scoring offense in the nation, you have to play at a pretty fast pace, and that's exactly what Alabama does. They excel at pushing the ball down the court, especially off turnovers and missed shots.
In the first half of this game, the Tide completely dictated the pace. LSU doesn't typically play at a super fast pace, but both teams were flying up and down the court. Somewhat surprisingly, the Tigers were able to keep up with the Tide's fast paced offense in the first half.
At halftime, the Tigers hit the locker room after scoring 44 points while shooting 48.4% from the field and 38.5% from three. Playing fast doesn't necessarily play to the Tigers strength, but they did a pretty good job of keeping up with Alabama in the first half.
However, despite matching the Tide's pace for the first 20 minutes, the Tigers completely folded in the second half and just couldn't keep up with the Tide's offense. They were outscored 59-44 in the final 20 minutes and shot just 36.8% from the field.
LSU was never able to slow this game down and play at their pace, instead, they let Alabama dictate the pace and played right into their hands.
3. Alabama lived and died with the three
Alabama takes an absurd amount of three pointers per game, but it works because they knock them down at a very high rate. The Tide make 38.8% of their threes this season, which ranks 14th in the nation.
Their offensive game plan was no different on Saturday. In the first half, the Tide took 23 three pointers, making eight (34.8%) of them. For reference, they took a total of 33 shots in the first half, meaning 70% of their shots came from behind the arc.
In the second half, the Tide slowed down a bit with their three point shots, but still attempted 11 threes while drilling six (54.5%) of them. They finished the game taking 54% of their shots and scoring 42 points from behind the arc.
This Bama squad loves to let it fly from deep, and they knock them down at a high level. LSU was unable to do anything to stop them on Saturday, and it was one of the many reasons they lost this game.
4. No answer for Latrell Wrightsell Jr.
Coming into this game, one of the main focuses for LSU was stopping Mark Sears, the SEC's leading scorer. One guy they probably didn't single out as someone to lockdown was Latrell Wrightsell Jr.
Wrightsell entered the game as the Tide's fifth leading scorer, averaging 7.7 points per game. However, Wrightsell went off for a season-high 19 points while shooting 6-for-12 from the field and 5-for-10 from deep.
Even once they had time to adjust and try to stop his hot hand, they couldn't do anything about it. Wrightsell was on all night long and led the Tide to their sixth conference victory of the season.
