Tigers Trounce Tide in OT Thriller to End Regular Season

The LSU Tigers beat the Alabama Crimson Tide 80-77 in Baton Rouge, La., to close out the regular season.

It was a back and forth battle between the two foes throughout the first half, each team working through runs. Each team had a hat trick of runs on top of each other: After a 3-2 Alabama start, LSU went on an 11-2 run. Then, the Tide tied up the game on an 8-0 run to make it 13 all. After that, chaos: LSU 7-2, Alabama 8-0, LSU 7-0, Alabama 8-2; finally, each team scored seven points each to end the half, giving Alabama the two point lead, 38-36, going into the break.

The Tide kept it close, by playing aggressive, capitalizing off LSU's mistakes, and shooting well from deep. Alabama scored 11 points off of turnovers, 11 second chances points, picked up nine offensive rebounds, and shot 30% from behind the arc in the first half.

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Sophomore forward Darius Miles exited the game with 14:20 left, after trying to force a steal, falling, and got kicked in the head by a Tigers player going for the ball. He entered back in shortly after.

Alabama shot hot from the free throw line, making 20-of-22 shots, but that was the only constant for the Tide this afternoon. The Tide went 11-of-40 from behind the arc, 23-of-61 field goals, and made four-of-15 shots down the stretch. Alabama turned the ball over 21 times, assisting LSU In 23 points.

However, thanks to a spectacular second half from Keon Ellis and, 11 fouls from the Tigers, the Tide kept it close until the clock struck 0:00. Ellis scored 15 points in the second half, perfect from the free throw line, and five rebounds. This includes two clutch free throws to send the game into overtime, after being fouled by LSU's Tari Eason with 12.3 seconds left in the game.

"Just started going by shooting it when I had the chance. Just playing offense the right way, if I have a shot, just shooting it, and they were falling, so my teammates kept finding me and that's just how it went," said Alabama guard Keon Ellis.

The Quinerly/Ellis duo hit two shots for the Tide in overtime, but it wasn't enough to leave Louisiana with the win. Davison had a chance to tie or take the lead with eight seconds left in overtime, but turned it over due to a shot clock violation. Alabama finishes the season 19-12, and 9-9 in conference play.

"Every little detail matters in these big games, especially road games- exectuing stuff out of timeouts, turnovers, it all comes back to bite you when you wish you had a couple possessions back at the end of the game," said Alabama head coach Nate Oats.

The Alabama Crimson Tide travels to Tampa, Fla., this week to compete in the SEC Tournament.The Tide will play its first game, Thursday, March 10, 2022, on the SEC Network. Opponent and time is TBD.