Alabama Basketball: What a wow Saturday of Basketball

Alabama Basketball set a program record Saturday afternoon in Coliseum. The Crimson Tide’s 40-point win over LSU (106-66) was the Tide’s third-largest margin of victory ever against an SEC opponent and its largest ever over LSU.

The game was every bit the mismatch the final score indicated. Ten Crimson Tide players logged 15 or more minutes in the game. Super freshman, Brandon Miller played just 24 minutes, scoring 31 points, adding nine rebounds and an assist. The Crimson Tide outshot, out-rebounded, and for most of the afternoon, out-hustled an LSU team that nonetheless, refused to quit.

Slumping LSU lost its fourth straight SEC game after opening its SEC regular season by beating Arkansas. LSU is not a good team, but neither is it terrible. LSU has a win over Wake Forest and lost to currently ranked, No. 11 Kansas State by two on a neutral court.

On Saturday, Alabama made LSU look like a team better suited to Sun Belt opposition than taking on one of college basketball’s very best teams. LSU head coach, Matt McMahon summed up the game well.

"That was as thorough of a butt-kicking as I’ve ever been a part of. 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."

As some Alabama basketball fans exuberantly claimed, it was Crimson Tide ‘Murder-Ball’ at its best.

Alabama Basketball not the only big story on Saturday

As impressive as the Alabama victory was, it might not have been the biggest SEC basketball story of the day. Alabama was expected to cruise by LSU, and Tennessee, playing at home, was expected to win by double-digits over a flawed Kentucky team. The Wildcats pulled off a shocker, winning 63-56 in Knoxville.

In more places than Tuscaloosa and Knoxville, it was a Saturday filled with college basketball surprises. Vanderbilt beat Arkansas in Nashville, winning 94-87. In Gainesville, a 9-7 Florida team beat 20th-ranked Missouri.

A Saturday of Upsets

Outside the SEC, there was a slew of upsets.

• No. 9, Arizona Wildcats lost to Oregon by 19 points
• No. 16, Miami Hurricanes lost to North Carolina State
• No. 18, Wisconsin Badgers lost to Indiana University by 18 points
• No. 19, Providence Friars lost to Creighton
• No. 24, Duke Blue Devils lost to Clemson
• No. 11, Kansas State lost to No. 17, TCU by 14 points
• No. 23, San Diego State Aztecs lost at home to New Mexico

In Tuscaloosa, something special is building. How special may not be known until April. If the ending of any season can be predicted in mid-January, we can say Nate Oats has a tightly-knit roster, filled with players doing much more than talking about championships.