Alabama Basketball Opponent Preview: LSU Tigers

Alabama Basketball takes on the LSU Tigers on Saturday afternoon, hoping to continue the momentum it built in its record-breaking thrashing of Vanderbilt on Tuesday night.

The Crimson Tide sits atop the SEC standings, but will have to bring its A-game every night with a target on its back.

LSU has fallen to 12-10 and 1-8 in the conference after starting the season strong. The Tigers’ only league win is still a narrow December victory over Arkansas. LSU has lost nine straight, and has not won a game in this calendar year.

In the last matchup between these two teams, Alabama basketball eviscerated LSU in a similar fashion to how it did Vanderbilt. The Tide hit 20 threes in the game and led 59-22 at halftime en route to a 40-point victory.

On its face, this was an embarrassing defeat for Matt McMahon’s squad, but the snowball effect didn’t end in Tuscaloosa. LSU lost its next three games by 18, 21, and 20 points. Granted, these games were against solid opponents in Auburn, Tennessee, and Arkansas, but two of them were home games for the Tigers. LSU then lost at home to Texas Tech and on the road at Missouri.

Factor in losses to Florida and Texas A&M prior to LSU’s blowout loss to Alabama, and the Tigers have lost seven straight SEC games by double-digits.

LSU has played some pretty bad basketball as of late, and this is a tough time for them to see an angry and refocused Alabama basketball team that looked like a buzzsaw in its last outing.

The Tigers are still led by Murray State transfer forward KJ Williams and guard Adam Miller. Both players have started every game for the Tigers this season. Williams leads the team with 17.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while Miller adds 12.0 points per game from the backcourt. The duo was held to just 19 points on 6-17 shooting in the first matchup against Alabama basketball.

While Alabama is still a considerably better team than LSU, it would be shocking if the Tigers didn’t at least put up more of a fight this time around. Presumably, they have made some adjustments since the first matchup, and this game will be played in Baton Rouge. Home court advantage hasn’t helped LSU much in recent weeks, but winning on the road in major college basketball is never a walk in the park.

That being said, I expect Alabama basketball to pull away from LSU, even if it doesn’t happen until the second half. Unless Alabama reverts to the ice-cold shooting slump it suffered earlier this season, this game should not stay competitive for 40 minutes.