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Alabama Basketball: Donta Hall Powers Tide to Blowout Victory over LSU

By Mike Parham

EUGENE, OR - DECEMBER 11: Donta Hall
EUGENE, OR - DECEMBER 11: Donta Hall /
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Donta Hall was unstoppable as he led the Alabama basketball team to victory over LSU Tuesday night in Tuscaloosa, pushing the Tide’s record to 17-9.

 The Alabama basketball team put on a defensive showcase as they got their second win this season against LSU.  The Tide, led by a 20-point, 8-rebound performance by Donta Hall that included five dunks, never trailed in the game.

Alabama (17-9) started the game with a nice cushion, going on a 7-0 run from the opening tip.  It was a back and forth game, but LSU (14-11) was never able to get over the hump to take a lead in the game.

Four Players in Double Figures

This win also marks the second consecutive game in which the Crimson Tide’s role players came up huge.  Alabama basketball had four players score in double-figures and also dished out 17 assists.

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There was some uncertainty about Alabama’s level of seriousness when facing unranked opponents.  The Tide were winners of five straight against ranked opponents but lost three straight to unranked teams prior to Tuesday night.

In the opening minutes, it was apparent that Alabama took this game seriously.  How serious?  Dazon Ingram opened up scoring in both halves with a three-pointer.

In the first half, Hall was a man on a mission.  He had 10 points, with most of them coming off of dunks.  He also helped spark the team by grabbing two offensive rebounds and scoring while drawing the foul.

Alabama was also able to find their mojo shooting three-pointers again.  The Tide converted 10, 3-pointers for the game including six in the first half.

Although the Tide did well offensively and defensively, turnovers kept LSU in the game early on.  Despite leading by as many as 13 in the first half, the lead was cut to nine due to eight first-half turnovers.  It helped that Alabama held LSU leading scorers Duop Reath and Tremont Waters to a combined two points in the first half.

Alabama basketball played well with Sexton on the bench

At the start of the second half, it looked as if Alabama had lost all the first half momentum.  Within the first five minutes, Collin Sexton got his fourth foul and was forced to sit with Alabama only leading by three.

However, the Tide responded with an 8-0 run to bring the lead back to double-digits.  While Sexton sat, the Tide went on a 24-3 run to put the game out of reach for good. During that run, Hall brought everyone in Coleman Coliseum to their feet, converting on two alley-oops, despite being fouled.

With this consistency, Alabama basketball is becoming a team to fear in conference play.  A win at Kentucky on Saturday would certainly put the rest of the country on notice.

Top Performers

Points:  Donta Hall (20)  Collin Sexton (15)  Braxton Key (12)

Rebounds:  Donta Hall (8)  Braxton Key (7)  John Petty (5)

Assists:  Collin Sexton (6)  Dazon Ingram (3)  Herbert Jones (3)

Next: Alabama Football: Tide will test the ‘reload’ premise in 2018

Up next is another tough road matchup for the Tide as they take on Kentucky at Rupp Arena. The game will be broadcast Saturday at 1 PM CST on CBS.

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