The last time the Tigers lost by 40 or more points heading into their Saturday matchup against No. 4 Alabama came all the way back in 1995, when No. 4 Kentucky crushed LSU 127-80 in its regular-season finale. That streak came to an end on Saturday, as the Crimson Tide defeated the Tigers 106-66 in a game that was never close.
This marks the third blowout loss suffered at the hands of Alabama Head Coach Nate Oats, who acquired the job back in 2019. Oats now has a 6-2 record against the Tigers since his tenure with the Tide began.
From the get-go, LSU found itself unable to keep up with its opponent, finding itself down by double digits eight minutes into the game and never being able to cut the deficit back down to single digits for the rest of it.
The Crimson Tide had a field day on the boards and from the perimeter, dominating the rebounding battle 50-33 and converting on 20 shots from three-point range, which nearly matched the team’s season high of 21 against Jacksonville State.
After the Tigers cut their deficit down to four with 15:10 to go in the first half, the Tide pulled off a run for the ages, outscoring LSU 49-13 to close out the period. Amidst that span, they converted on 11 three-pointers and grabbed 10 offensive rebounds, pulling away with absurd ease. Freshman standout Brandon Miller played a large role in that, converting on six three-pointers in the first half and finishing the period with 22 points.
It isn’t a secret that Alabama is effective with offensive boards and from behind the arc, as it sat just outside the top 15 in offensive rebounds and inside the top 10 in three pointers made per game heading into its matchup with the Tigers.
On top of their struggles on the defensive end, they could not seem to find the bottom of the net in the first half, failing to put up more than 28 points in the period for their third straight outing. LSU also hasn’t cracked 35% shooting from the field throughout an entire game since its matchup against Kentucky that kicked off the new year.
“That was as thorough of a buttkicking as I’ve ever been a part of,” head coach Matt McMahon said on the loss. “Not too many positives to take away, I guess the only thing is in the second half, we didn’t lay down and get beat by a hundred.”
In terms of positives, the team did manage to once again shoot efficiently from three, shooting 38% in the category. It also had one of its best performances from the free-throw line, where it converted on 22 of its 29 attempts, and did a decent job of taking care of the ball. More importantly, it has 14 more chances to earn its second conference win and 12 of its remaining opponents aren’t as intimidating as the Tide.
That doesn’t mean the road gets much easier from here. The next chance for the Tigers to notch a much-needed win comes against No. 21 Auburn, who’s coming off two straight SEC victories.
