The University of Alabama may lead the nation in personal fouls committed per game, but it was LSU’s two fouls within the last minute Wednesday night that changed the game’s outcome in LSU’s 73-70 loss to the Tide. “We have to play better in the last five minutes of a game,” LSU coach John Brady said. “We didn’t play the last five minutes well against Georgia, and we didn’t play well the last five minutes tonight. We had some opportunities in the last five minutes, but we made some poor decisions.” The unranked Tigers (13-8, 2-5) extended their losing steak to four games despite improving to almost 52 percent shooting from the field. LSU previously averaged 37 percent field-goal shooting in Southeastern Conference play. The Tigers led 68-67 from the 2:45 mark until 0:45 left in play, when sophomore forward Magnum Rolle committed a foul on Alabama senior forward Jermareo Davidson. Davidson hit both free throws to give the Tide a 69-68 lead. After a turnover by sophomore guard Garrett Temple and a subsequent foul on Temple, Alabama sophomore forward Alonzo Gee hit two free throws to extend the lead to 71-68 with 0:23 remaining. Sophomore center Chris Johnson, who had his first career start in place of senior forward Darnell Lazare, dunked the ball with seven seconds left. But the Tigers could not regain possession, and Davidson’s dunk for the Tide with one second remaining put a cap on his career-high 31-point performance and sealed Alabama’s victory. Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said Davidson’s play was “phenomenal” and “willed” his team to win. “I liked how our guys competed – hard,” Gottfried said. “I think it is a situation where our guys could have hung their heads a little bit. They didn’t; they bounced back.” Junior forward Glen Davis shot 7-14 from the field and led the Tigers in scoring with 15 points. Davis said Alabama – especially Davidson – played a “good game” by competing until the end but said the Tigers “shot [themselves] in the foot” with critical mistakes. “We lost,” Davis said. “So what can we do … either cry or fight back. [We’re going to] fight back and hopefully get some wins. The season’s not over with.” Sophomore forward Tasmin Mitchell recorded 14 points with almost 67 percent field-goal shooting. Johnson recorded a career-high 13 points in 18 minutes of play. Johnson previously played in only nine games this season and averaged 3.6 minutes of play in those games. “Chris Johnson played well for us considering he hasn’t played much this season,” Brady said. Temple said he was pleased with Johnson’s performance but disappointed in the team’s defensive effort. “Offensively we did good until the last three or four minutes of the game,” Temple said. “We should have found a way to stop Davidson. We’re pleased with our offensive output we had. We just have to go back to our old selves on defense.”
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