Alabama Basketball Opponent Preview: LSU Tigers
Alabama Basketball (13-6, 5-1) and LSU (11-8, 3-3) will tip off at 7:00 CT (8:00 ET) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Alabama Basketball looks to remain atop the SEC standings when it hosts LSU on Saturday night.
The Tigers have dropped two straight games, losing close contests at Texas A&M and at home against Georgia. LSU has struggled with consistency so far this year; it has notched impressive wins including a 15-point win over Texas A&M and a 6-point victory over Wake Forest, but also has some baffling losses such as a 23-point defeat against Syracuse and a home loss to Nicholls State.
LSU is led by a pair of transfer guards with previous SEC ties. Vanderbilt transfer Jordan Wright is a big guard/wing that leads the team with 15.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, adding 2.5 assists per contest. Wright has started 92 games as an SEC player and scored over 1,400 career points. He will be a physical and experienced opponent for Bama wings Aaron Estrada and Rylan Griffen.
Tulane transfer guard Jalen Cook missed the early portion of the season due to eligibility concerns, but has been a welcome addition for the Tigers. He has played in nine games and started eight this season, averaging 15.6 points and a team-high 2.8 assists per game.
Cook is a volume shooter and one of the better scorers in the conference. He scored 28 points in a win over Vanderbilt, and most recently had 21 points and a season-high four three-pointers in LSU’s loss to Georgia. The guard matchup between Jalen Cook and Mark Sears will be fascinating to watch. Sears is the SEC’s leading scorer, and is a fellow former mid-major standout, having transferred to Alabama Basketball from Ohio.
Freshman guard Mike Williams III and sophomore wing Tyrell Ward have been effective role players for the Tigers, with Ward typically coming off the bench.
Senior forward Will Baker (11.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG) and sophomore forward Jalen Reed (8.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG) man the LSU frontcourt. Senior forward Derek Fountain and George Washington transfer Hunter Dean also factor into the frontcourt rotation, while the role of Kentucky transfer Daimion Collins has been limited.
Alabama Basketball should not have an issue with this LSU team, particularly at home. Bama shoots the ball very well within the confines of Coleman Coliseum, and the home crowd should be raucous once again tonight.