Rapid Reaction: LSU holds off Alabama on the road in key win for SEC title race
By Andrew Olson
Published:
With LSU basketball, it always comes down to the wire. Saturday was no exception.
Will Wade’s Tigers got off to a 7-0 start on the road against Alabama. The Crimson Tide did not take a lead until the 3:02 in the first half. From there, it was a back-and-forth battle with eight lead changes. When all was said and done, LSU came away with a 74-69 win.
The Tigers had standout PG Tremont Waters back in the lineup, but it was Skylar Mays who led LSU’s scoring effort, dropping in 20 points on 6-11 shooting from the field and 8-8 free-throws. It was a couple late trips to the line that pushed Mays’ total over Ja’Vonte Smart (19 points, 8-of-17 shooting). Naz Reid notched a double-double on 12 points and 13 rebounds. The game’s leading scorer was Alabama’s John Petty Jr. with 23 points, hitting five three-pointers.
On a day the Tigers struggled from behind the three-point line (4-of-17), 40 of the team’s 74 points were scored in the paint.
Getting to 14-2 in the SEC keeps LSU in the driver’s seat to win the conference’s regular-season title. With two games left on the schedule, LSU holds key head-to-head tiebreakers over both Kentucky and Tennessee. The Wildcats and Vols, both 13-2, face off in Knoxville on Saturday afternoon.
Winning on the road has been the key to LSU’s 2018-19 SEC success. The Tigers are now 8-0 on the road.
For Avery Johnson’s squad, it’s a disappointing Senior Day in which Alabama played from behind most of the game (31:07 of 40:00). UA entered Saturday on the NCAA Tournament bubble. A win over LSU would have gone a long way to boost the Crimson Tide’s tournament resume.
LSU is now 24-5 overall. Alabama falls to 17-12 overall and 8-8 in SEC play.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
