A short-handed Alabama Crimson Tide couldn’t hang with the LSU Tigers tonight in Baton Rouge. The Tigers came away with the 67-58 victory to clinch their fourth conference win. The Tide was short four players due to suspensions.
Rodney Cooper came up big tonight for Alabama. Cooper finished with 28 points, 3 rebounds and one assist. He was given a tough assignment tonight, playing the forward position for most of the game. Cooper is well undersized for a forward, but he made the LSU defense pay. Rodney Cooper’s 28 points sets a new career-high for the freshman.
Nick Jacobs was the only other Alabama player in double digits on the offensive side of the ball. Jacobs finished with 14 points (6-11) and four rebounds. Levi Randolph came up big for the Tide on the offensive boards. He led all Alabama players with three rebounds on offense.
Alabama’s roster showed only nine available players for the Crimson Tide. Eight of those players would see action tonight. Moussa Gueye was the only Alabama player to play less than 15 minutes, Gueye only put in four minutes.
All things considered, Alabama had a pretty good game. The Crimson Tide went into half with only 15 points, their lowest scoring half on the year. LSU dominated the boards the whole game. Most of the game, Alabama showed a smaller set with Nick Jacobs and Rodney Cooper playing forward.
LSU’s pace, especially in the second half, proved to be fatal for the young Tide players. The Tiger’s kept feeding Johnny O’Bryant and Justin Hamilton inside. O’Bryant, a McDonald’s All-American coming out of high school, finished with 17 points. Justin Hamilton led the Tigers with 21 points, Nick Jacobs had no answer for him on the defensive side.
Alabama came out of halftime on a 10-0 run and Anthony Grant started to press the Tigers on defense for the first time. The Tide was able to cut the LSU led to three points twice in the second half, but couldn’t sustain their runs on offense.
The win gives LSU their fourth win (4-6) in SEC play, while the loss drops Alabama to 5-5. So, what about the tournament? I applaud Anthony Grant on his decision. All four of the suspended players have been around the program for a while and he needed to set the tone. With such a young team, outside of JaMychal Green, Anthony Grant has shown he doesn’t fool around with behavior and attitude.
Alabama will face Florida in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday. Both teams will come into the game on a slump. Florida lost their second straight game against Tennessee earlier on Saturday and Alabama’s team is in a mess. Anthony Grant would not comment on the return of the suspended players before Tuesday night’s game.
If the players don’t return quickly, Alabama’s tournament outlook might be grim. Rodney Cooper carried the team tonight, but I’m not sure he has a couple more 25+ scoring games in his system. Florida has some great guards and it will be crucial for Alabama to have all of its ducks back in a row before Tuesday.