TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The under-manned LSU Tigers basketball team entered a hostile, sold-out environment at Coleman Coliseum and gave the 17th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide all they wanted for 35 minutes before falling, 76-66.
The Tigers fall to 11-8 overall and 1-7 in the league, but again on the road, the Tigers tried to make life miserable, playing a stingy defense and coming up with key buckets to keep the game close.
The Alabama fans were ready for this rematch and though the players and coaches showed no ill feelings from the first meeting, the Tiger players were greeted by a sea of Crimson shirts and loud boos for LSU coach John Brady. At halftime many in the student section doffed their Mark?s Madness t-shirts they normally wear for shirts declaring, “Brady’s an idiot.”
“If they are going to use my name to make money, then I would suggest that they donate it to the American Cancer Society in memory of Coach (Rah-Rah) Scott and Kermit Koenig.”
Both are former Alabama assistant coaches who have passed away in the last year because of cancer.
For the second straight game, LSU had only two players in double figures, Ronald Dupree, right at his scoring average of 18 points, and Torris Bright with 14.
The Tigers hung tough early, surviving an early knockout attempt by Alabama, a 10-0 run which gave the Tide a 20-13 lead with 11:15 to go in the opening half. But the Tigers slowly worked their way back, cutting it to 22-20, with 8:44 to go. The Tide answered right back and had two six-point leads, the last at 29-23, with 5:17 to play in the half.
But LSU with Jason Wilson having a strong first half and Brian Beshara hitting a three got the Tigers back to just two down, 34-32, at the intermission.
LSU came out with fire at the start of the second half, scoring the first 8 points on a three-pointer by Collis Temple, a jumper by Ronald Dupree, and a lay-up and a free throw by Bright to go up 40-34 with 15:35 to play. LSU would get another three-point lay-up and free throw from Jermaine Williams at the 13:39 mark and would lead 47-39 and again at 49-41 with 11:33 to play.
At that point, Alabama’s Erwin Dudley and Rod Grizzard went to work scoring Alabama’s next 13 straight points as the Tide tied the game, took the lead and then traded the lead back and forth with the Tigers. The game was tied for the last time at 58-58 with 6:20 to go, but Alabama got the next four points on Grizzard free throws and LSU got as close as one three more times before Alabama was able to get it out to the final margin.
Grizzard would finish with 25 points and 10 rebounds, while Erwin Dudley had 14 points and the league’s leading rebounder had 11 boards for the Tide. Also with 14 points was Doc Martin.
Alabama is now 17-4 overall and 6-3 in the SEC.
“I’d like to complement the Alabama team,” said Brady. “They made the necessary plays down the stretch to win the game. I thought we played with a lot of heart and a lot of effort. I thought we ran some good offense, took some good shots. We just weren’t able to finish the game. We put ourselves in the position to win the game in a hostile environment.”
LSU plays on the road on Wednesday at Oxford against Ole Miss at 7 p.m.