Tide Pummels Tigers at Home

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Five men in double digits and four walk-ons on the floor in the final minute. Things are just fine at Coleman Coliseum these days, as Alabama bounced back from Saturday’s loss at Oklahoma by pummeling LSU 78-60.

For the first time in 65 years, No. 7/10 Alabama has started 10-0 in SEC play. Bama is now 15-4 overall.

Said Tide head coach Nate Oats: “It was a quality win. We’ve got to find ways to win when we’re not hitting 3’s. We went 6-for-24 from 3.

“I thought we did a pretty good job defensively. Trendon [Watford] goes 3-for-13 and ended up with nine rebounds. Our guys did a really good job [on Watford.] [Alex] Reese and Juwan Gary stepped up and did a good job on Trendon.

“Shooting comes and goes a little. Guys are getting in the gym."

“We led 17-4 on second chance points after getting none Saturday. I thought was big to answer the bell [rebounding].”

Oats was happy with Gary’s performance. “He was huge. Herb [Jones] picked up his fourth foul with 16:20 left in the game. We opened up a 20-point lead and Juwan was big in there."

“He’s had a great attitude all year. He brings energy. Blocks shots, rebounds. All 12 of his points were in the paint. I was happy to see that."

“It’s nice to bring three guys off the bench in double figures. Our bench outscored theirs 34-7.”

“I thought the guys responded well to the loss. We’ve got a big one to prepare for at Missouri.”

Jaden Shackelford led Bama with 19 points. He was joined in double figures by Reese with 13 while Gary had a career-high 12. Adding 10 points each were guards Jahvon Quinerly and Keon Ellis.

Sophomore guard Shackelford said, “We got past our men. The way we play, there’s a lot of openings. They tried to take away the three, but we’ve got guys who can dribble.”

Gary added, “I just wanted to help my team, come off the bench, paly defense and rebound.”

“It’s nice to be able to win this game without playing Herb a ton of minutes,” Oats noted.

Watford of LSU was held to nine points. For the second straight year in Tuscaloosa, he was not a factor. The Tigers fell to 11-6, 6-4 SEC and were led in scoring by freshman Cam Thomas with 22.

Next up for the Tide is a Saturday trip to Columbia, Mo. The Tide and Tigers tangle at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.

“We’ve been winning games with our defense,” Oats said. “We need to get our offense back going.”

Oats finished by saying he facetimed with Wednesday football signee Terrion Arnold. “I’m really happy to have some guys that can play both [sports].

“We definitely loved seeing [Arnold] sign with us today. He’s a point guard with a gritty mentality.”