Alabama
14-11,6-6SEC
LSU
18-7,9-3SEC
Herbert Jones One-Handed Performance Helps Lift Alabama Past No. 25 LSU, 88-82
2/15/2020 6:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Kira Lewis Jr. and Jaden Shackelford combined for 53 points while Herbert Jones racked up a career-high 17 rebounds
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Behind the play of junior Herbert Jones along with the scoring of freshman Jaden Shackelford and sophomore Kira Lewis Jr., the Alabama men's basketball team held on to topple No. 25 LSU, 88-82, in Coleman Coliseum Saturday afternoon. The Crimson Tide (14-11, 6-6 SEC) led for 32 minutes on its way to earning the team's second win against a ranked opponent on the year.
The story of the game, however, was the play of Jones, who was playing with one hand essentially after having his fractured left wrist surgically repaired two weeks ago, which forced him to miss three games. Jones finished the night with a career-best 17 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass, to go along with six points, three assists, two blocks, two charges taken and a steal in his near 29 minutes of play.
In addition to Jones' performance, Lewis collected a game-high 27 points and four assists, while Shackelford added 26 points and a game-high five three-pointers. Junior Galin Smith had his best game of the year, as he finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
Alabama finished with 13 made threes to bring its season total to 269 makes from beyond the arc which broke the program record of 259 threes made which was set back in 2015-16 across 33 games. The Tide accomplished this feat in only 25 games.
LSU (18-7, 9-3), which entered the game tied atop the SEC standings, was led by senior Skylar Mays' 24 points, while Emmitt Williams finished with 13 points and 10 boards on the night.
Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"It was a big win. We've been saying we needed another Quad 1 win and we got it. I thought our energy out of the gate was really good. I want to thank the crowd. That was one of the best crowds I have heard since I've been here. It hit a fever-pitch when Herb stepped to the free throw line after they intentionally fouled him knowing that he doesn't have his strong hand and wasn't able to shoot with it. With his weak hand he goes 2-for-2. It was unreal. There was a lot of crowd noise when that happened. I think it was recognition of the fact that he is such a warrior. He stepped up with one hand, got 17 rebounds, goes 2-for-2 with his off hand at the line. A lot of big plays from a lot of our guys. Galin Smith had some huge offensive boards, (Alex) Reese hit that big three and Shackelford keeps putting in points as a freshman. He's got no fear of the game. Kira came alive for us in the second half and really our defense had been pretty good all game. When Kira had to come out there at the end when he picked up his fourth, we kind of fell apart a little bit and let them back in it. Maybe I should have just left him in. I kept debating whether I was going to call a timeout to let him back in or not. I knew the media (timeout) was coming, but it's something to second guess. We won, so it doesn't look like a bad decision now, but it could've been bad if I hadn't gotten him back in there a little sooner. Big win for us, we have to use this to get some momentum rolling here for the last third of conference play."
Team Stats
- Alabama has now scored 80 or better in 14 of its 25 games played on the year, just four shy of the school record of 17 set on three separate seasons (1976-77, 1978-79, 1986-87)
- After it's late first half run (closed half on a 15-4 run), the Tide maintained the lead for the remainder of the game
- The Crimson Tide was outrebounded 44-42 in the contest, however, owned 23-17 edge on the glass in the second half
- Out of Lewis' 27 points, 18 of those were scored in the second half
- Junior Galin Smith grabbed a season-high six rebounds
- Smith made 6-of-7 free throws, shooting 85.7 percent on the night despite entering the game only making 37.5 from the foul line this season
First Half
- Alex Reese knocked down a three to give Alabama a 7-5 lead before the first media timeout of the game at the 15:47 mark
- Both defenses locked down over the next few minutes, as the Tide and Tigers were deadlocked at 10-10 with 11:58 remaining in the first half
- A Lewis three-pointer capped a 7-0 run and gave the Crimson Tide a 17-10 lead with 9:47 to go in the opening half
- LSU responded with a 9-3 run to trim the Tide's lead to 20-19 with 7:17 to go until halftime
- With 3:56 left in the first, the contest was tied at 25-25, when Alabama went on its 15-4 run to close play in the opening stanza, and carried a 40-29 lead into the half
- Jaden Shackelford led the Tide with 13 points at the break, while Lewis added nine; Jones grabbed seven boards in the first half
Second Half
- After LSU cut the lead to 43-35, the Tide used a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 53-37 at the 15:41 mark
- A 9-0 LSU run cut the Tide's lead to 59-50, but back-to-back threes from Lewis extended Alabama's lead to 65-50 with 10:35 to play
- With 7:14 to go, Alabama held steady to a 70-56 advantage on the scoreboard; however, a 14-5 Tigers run made it just 75-70 in favor of Alabama with 3:05 to go
- A three-pointer by LSU made it 79-78 Alabama with just 1:32 remaining
- Shackelford sank a three with 1:18 on the clock to give Alabama an 82-78 lead
- After two LSU free throws made it 82-80, Smith secured an offensive rebound and kicked it out to Reese who drilled the game-clinching three-pointer to extend the lead to 85-80 with just 41 seconds remaining
- On the following LSU possession, Lewis stole the ball and pitched it ahead to Shackelford, who sealed the win with layup with 20 seconds remaining
- Alabama would go on to win the game 88-82
The Tide will close out its two-game homestand on Wednesday when it hosts Texas A&M in the two teams' first meeting of the season. Tip off is slated for 6 p.m. CT and will be available to watch on SEC Network.
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