LSU Men’s Basketball drops tenth consecutive game

Baton Rouge, LA (KPLC) - 21 days before Saturday’s game between LSU and Alabama, the Tigers and Crimson Tide faced off in Tuscaloosa in what was a very lopsided game that saw the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide come out on top 106-66. In the three weeks since, Alabama went 4-1 with three of their four victories coming by double-digits, while the Tigers’ struggles continued as they went 0-5 with four of their five losses coming by double-digits.

Two completely different resumes for Alabama and LSU leading into Saturday’s showdown at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, but nonetheless, the two squared off, and unlike the first meeting three weeks earlier, the Tigers were hanging with the Tide.

LSU was much better in the first-half on Saturday against Alabama than they were in their first meeting, after 20 minutes on January 14th, LSU trailed 59-22, three weeks later they trailed by just seven, as Alabama led 44-37 going into the break despite LSU leading at multiple points in the first quarter by as many as four.

Unfortunately for LSU though they simply couldn’t get over the edge as Alabama would go onto beat LSU 79-69 as the Crimson Tide improved to 20-3, and 10-0 in SEC play, while the Tigers fell to 12-11, are now 1-9 in SEC play, and have now lost 10 consecutive games.

LSU Top-Performers:

• Derek Fountain: 26 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 assists
• Cam Hayes: 15 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block

Alabama Top-Performers:

• Noah Clowney: 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 assist, 1 steal
• Brandon Miller: 11 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

“I mean it’s tough I ain’t gonna lie, losing that many in a row, but we just need to try to keep doing what we do everyday and keep stacking days in practice and then eventually, we’ll get through it, we really just need one and once we get one I feel like we’ll be fine but coach ain’t ever gonna give up on us and we ain’t ever gonna give up on coach so we just need to figure it out and I know we can figure it out” said guard Cam Hayes following the game about the Tigers’ losing streak.

“Yeah I think it doesn’t happen over night, you know obviously this is a very difficult stretch, and as you enter this final month of the season the choice is lay down, and keep taking these losses or fight, and battle, and stay the course and find ways to get better, and come together as a group and win a game, and so we’ll take the latter approach and stay focused on that” said head coach Matt McMahon.

With Saturday’s outcome, here is what the SEC Standings now look like:

1. Alabama Crimson Tide: 20-3 (10-0)
2. Tennessee Volunteers: 19-4 (8-2)
3. Texas A&M Aggies: 16-7 (8-2)
4. Auburn Tigers: 17-6 (7-3)
5. Kentucky Wildcats: 16-7 (7-3)
6. Florida Gators: 13-10 (6-4)
7. Missouri Tigers: 17-6 (5-5)
8. Arkansas Razorbacks: 16-7 (5-5)
9. Georgia Bulldogs: 14-9 (4-6)
10. Vanderbilt Commodores: 11-12 (4-6)
11. Mississippi State Bulldogs: 15-8 (3-7)
12. Ole Miss Rebels: 9-14 (1-9)
13. LSU Tigers: 12-11 (1-9)
14. South Carolina Gamecocks: 8-15 (1-9)

LSU now has a couple of days off before heading to Starkville, Mississippi where they will take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday, February 8th, at 8:00.

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