By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – Second verse, almost the exact same as the first.
No. 16 and SEC co-leader Alabama virtually copied its 109-88 league win over LSU three weeks ago in Tuscaloosa with a 109-92 cloned kill Saturday afternoon in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
It was the familiar story LSU has experienced in the last five seasons since Nate Oats became the Crimson Tide’s head coach.
Now winning 9 of 11 times over the Tigers, Oats doesn’t see a reason to rewrite his victory formula. He’s all about obtaining a huge number of possessions, resulting in a ridiculously high number of shot attempts (most of them 3-pointers) that usually gets a win no matter how poorly his team might shoot.
Alabama had 81 possessions vs. LSU and scored 37 of its 38 field goals on 18 3’s, 12 layups and 7 dunks. It scored 28 points off 19 offensive rebounds and 23 points off 12 LSU turnovers.
“I’ve played this way, pretty fast, for 20 years since I was (head coach) at Romulus (Mich.),” said Oats whose team is 17-7 overall and 9-2 in the SEC.
“Develop really good players, opening up the floor and letting them actually play their game. The best way to do that is play fast.
“I tell the guys all the time we’re going to be one of the fastest teams in the country because our goal is to be the most efficient team.”
Alabama drilled 8 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game including 5 of 6 in a 2-minute span and closed the win swishing 6 3’s in the last 7½ minutes to turn away one last LSU rally.
“We had poor shot selection,” LSU head coach Matt McMahon said about his team taking a one-point lead with 9 1/2 minutes left and missing three straight 3s while Alabama responded, hitting a trio of 3s in-a-row. “Every man for himself hasn’t been a good formula for us.
“Alabama’s terrific because there’s no hero shot coming. They just move it (the ball) to the next guy. If you (defensively) rotate to him, he moves it to the next guy until they get a great, high-quality shot.”
The Crimson Tide’s ball movement was absolutely dazzling, resulting in five players scoring in double figures. Senior guards Mark Sears and Latrell Wrightsell Jr, had 23 and 21 points respectively with Wrightsell also collecting 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Wrightsell fired in 6 of 9 3’s, which apparently wasn’t enough for Oats who said he “gets irritated when he (Wrightsell) passes open shots. . .he’s such a good shooter I pretty much count 3 points in my head when he shoots.”
Wrightsell appreciates being greenlighted by Oats.
“We’re not supposed to pass up any open threes,” Wrightsell said. “We need to shoot good open shooting threes that we create for each other. He (Oats) tells me that (to take more shots) everyday in practice. It definitely gives me confidence.”
LSU started the game hitting its first 12 of 15 field goal attempts yet trailed 28 26 because 6 of Alabama’s first 10 buckets were 3-pointers.
Forward Will Baker, who had 25 points in Tigers’ 95-74 win over Arkansas last Saturday when he scored 17 in the first half, scored 22 of his game-total 24 in the first 14:20 minutes.
The lanky 7-foot lefty, a graduate transfer from Nevada, dipped into his full bag of offensive moves with spinning layups, up and under moves and 3 pointers. He hit his first 6 shots, scoring 13 of the Tigers’ opening 22 points as LSU eventually trailed 49-46 at halftime.
In the second half, Baker had more turnovers (3) than points (2, both on free throws) and missed his only two field goal attempts.
“They (Alabama) made some adjust adjustments knowing I might drive,” Baker said.
LSU also made it a point of emphasis at halftime to close out quicker on any Crimson Tide 3-point shooter. Alabama’s answer was finding open lanes to the basket for Alabama. Nine of the Tide’s first 13 made field goals were layups or dunk as the visitors took a 68-57 lead with 13:51 left.
LSU’s offense finally re-heated. It hit 6 of 7 shots including back-to-back 3s by Jalen Cook and Tyrell Ward, on a 15-3 rally for a 72-71 Tigers’ lead with 9:32 left to play.
The Tide missed 6 of 7 shots, including 5 3’s during LSU’s comeback. Yet just as easily as Alabama’s long-distance touch disappeared, it re-appeared to drive a stake into the Tigers’ hearts.
‘Bama knocked down six straight 3-pointers and left LSU in the rearview mirror to contemplate another loss.
“For the first 32 minutes, playing smart and moving the ball offensively enabled us to have a better opportunity to defend them in transition,” McMahon said. “But some of our poor offense and the second-half turnovers helped fuel the 3’s threes they were able to get.”
LSU has two road games this week, first on Tuesday at Florida (16-7, 6-4) and then at SEC-co leader No. 15 South Carolina (21-3, 9-2 SEC) on Saturday.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com