No. 4 Alabama Basketball Decimates LSU by 40 Points

The Crimson Tide shot the cover off the ball in a rout of its rival Tigers.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Pure and total domination.

The No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide completely dismantled LSU in front of a sold-out Coleman Coliseum Saturday afternoon by a final score of 106-66 behind a superhuman effort from freshman phenom Brandon Miller.

Miller was aggressive early and often, scoring 22 of his 31 points in the first half while shooting 8-for-11 from the field in the first period. He was the biggest catalyst of Alabama’s massive 27-point halftime lead that was punctuated by a halfcourt heave from freshman Jaden Bradley.

"[Brandon Miller] got started with that first three and had a barrage after that," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. "He shot 16 shots and scored 31 points. [...] One of the more efficient nights I've ever seen."

In the first half, Alabama put on one of the best shooting displays the country has seen this entire season. The Crimson Tide made 13 threes in the half on 33 attempts, with six of those makes coming from Miller.

The second half was much slower, as to be expected after a first half like Alabama had, but the Crimson Tide continued to pour it on the Tigers thanks to constant effort on the glass and on defense.

"I felt like today was a day we got back to who we are," Oats said. "Our foundation — defense, rebounding, blue collar, playing tough, making tough plays. The offense will take care of itself if we do that."

Even outside of the 3-point shooting, Alabama dominated LSU in essentially every other facet of the game. The Crimson Tide snagged 19 offensive rebounds in the game en route to a 52-36 rebounding advantage. Additionally, Alabama never allowed LSU to find any sort of rhythm on the offensive end, holding its sixth straight opponent under 70 points.

"We've really been on them about rebounded because I feel like our rebounding dropped off," Oats said. "Let's hope the rebounding isn't something we have to keep addressing. Let's get it addressed, it looked great today."

Junior point guard Mark Sears, who recently joined Miller as a top-10 scorer in the SEC, once again was Alabama’s second leading scorer along with freshman Rylan Griffen with 12 in the game.

The victory marks Alabama’s sixth in a row, and moves the Crimson Tide to 15-2 on the season and 5-0 in SEC play. Next up for Alabama is a trip to Nashville on Tuesday to take on Vanderbilt, who just secured a big SEC win over Arkansas on Saturday. Tipoff on Tuesday between No. 4 Alabama and Vanderbilt is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and the game will be aired on the SEC Network.

"Now I feel like all we can do is get back to the basics and get ready for Vanderbilt," Miller said.

How It Happened:

(most recent update at the top)

Second Half

• FINAL - No. 4 Alabama 106, LSU 66

• Back-to-back threes from Alabama put the Crimson Tide over 100 and lead to an LSU timeout. The walk-ons have checked in and Alabama leads 101-59.

• Quinerly hits his third three, followed by one from Gurley. Alabama leads 94-53 at the under-4 timeout. 

• Griffen gets Alabama back on the board after a nearly 3-minute scoring drought. Alabama leads 88-48.

• Alabama leads LSU 85-42 at the under-8 timeout.

• Miller is now up to 31 in the game after another three. Alabama leads 81-40.

• Pringle throws down a monster putback slam. Alabama leads 78-38 with just under 10 minutes to play.

• Alabama answers a 7-0 run LSU with an and-one from Pringle. Alabama leads 71-36 at the under-12 timeout.

• A much slower half offensively for Alabama. The Crimson Tide leads 67-29 after two LSU free throws.

• At the under-16 timeout, Alabama leads 65-26. Brandon Miller has matched LSU's point total with 26 of his own.

• Bradley gets a layup to go for Alabama's first points of the half after over two minutes of play.

• LSU gets the first bucket out of halftime in the lane. Alabama leads 59-24. 

Halftime stats:

First Half

• HALFTIME - Alabama leads LSU 59-22

• Quinerly downs his second three of the game. Alabama leads 52-18.

• At the under-4 timeout Alabama leads 47-15 and is on a 16-1 run over the past four minutes. Sears is up to 8 points after a recent 3-point make. Alabama has made 11 threes in the first half.

• Another three for Miller. He's up to 22 in the first half and Alabama leads 41-14.

• At the under-8 media timeout, Alabama leads 38-14 after an and-one from Charles Bediako in transition. Bediako will shoot a free throw after the break.

• Welch hits his first three in an Alabama jersey. Alabama leads 36-14 and is on a 13-3 run.

• Miller is up to 17 points in the game after back-to-back 3-point makes. Alabama leads 29-11 with nine minutes remaining in the first half.

• Gurley swats a shot back on one end, and makes a three on the other. Alabama leads 21-9 at the under-12 timeout. 

• Miller is up to nine points after another 3-point make. Alabama leads 18-9.

• LSU hits its third three of the game, cutting the Alabama lead to 13-9. 

• Sears hits another three for Alabama, but LSU responds with one of its own. Alabama leads 11-6 at the under-16 timeout. 

• Miller hits his second three of the game. Alabama leads 8-3.

• LSU's first bucket of the game is a three as well. The game is tied at 3.

• Brandon Miller opens the game with a 3-pointer at the top of the key. Alabama leads 3-0. 

Pregame

• Today's starters for Alabama are Mark Sears, Jaden Bradley, Brandon Miller, Noah Clowney and Charles Bediako.

• Officials for today's game are Bart Lenox, Patrick Evans and Brian Dorsey.

• Junior forwards Darius Miles is back with the team, but per a UA release has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with an ankle injury. 

• Guard Davin Cosby, who was a 4-star recruit in the Class of 2023, enrolled early at Alabama and is with the team for today's game. He is expected to redshirt for the remainder of the season and make his debut in 2023-24. 

How to Watch Alabama vs. LSU

Who: No. 4 Alabama (14-2, 4-0 SEC) vs. LSU (12-4, 1-3 SEC)

When: 3 p.m., Saturday

Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

TV: ESPN

Live Stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart; Analyst: Bryan Passink). The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.