Tide sinks Tigers
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The first game of Southeastern Conference play had LSU in a foul mood Sunday.
Alabama jumped to an early lead and held it the entire game, outscoring the Tigers by 17 points at the free-throw line for a 65-59 win at Coleman Coliseum.
Senario Hillman scored a career-high 24 points and the last nine points for Alabama (11-4), which outscored the Tigers 23-6 at the free-throw line on a day where LSU seemed to be in foul trouble from the opening tip.
Hillman was 8-for-12 from the free-throw line and Alonzo Gee hit 6-of-9 free throws in a 14-point, 13-rebound effort for Alabama, which attempted 35 free throws to 10 for LSU. The Tigers’ inside players, Chris Johnson, Tasmin Mitchell, Storm Warren and Quintin Thornton, combined to only attempt one free throw.
“It was a point of emphasis for us to go inside,” Crimson Tide coach Mark Gottfried said. “And I think we did that.”
LSU had double the fouls of Alabama, 28-14. The Tigers hit more field goals (25-20) and 3-pointers (3-2) and had more rebounds (38-35).
Marcus Thornton had 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead LSU (12-3), which has lost back-to-back games for the first time in the Trent Johnson era. The Tigers had 17 turnovers in a game they never led and trailed by as many as nine points, 49-40 with 11:12 to go.
Yet, LSU, sparked by a switch to a zone defense that seemed to put Alabama on its heels, was within 56-54 with 3:34 left and had the ball. The Tigers got the ball to Thornton near the top of the key, but he was stripped by Hillman from behind.
“I sealed him off to get the ball and he (Hillman) pushed me in the back,” Thornton said, “but like coach (Johnson) said, you are on the road and you aren’t always going to get the call.”
Hillman wound up running down the loose ball on LSU’s side of the court, and he drove and dunked the ball as he was fouled. He missed the free throw to push the lead back to four.
“I had to get momentum going for my team,” said Hillman, a 13.6-point per game scorer for the Tide coming into the game. “We were kind of sluggish and I knew in my head I had to do something, so I ended up going for the steal and was able to finish with the dunk.”
Hillman scored the rest of his points at the free-throw line, going 7-for-8 in the final minute as the Tide never again allowed LSU to make it a one-possession game.
Tasmin Mitchell, who sat out 12 minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls, scored all 10 of his points in the second half on 5-for-8 shooting. But LSU, despite outscoring Alabama 32-24 in the paint, could not get to the free-throw line often.
“There were things that were going on out there I couldn’t quite figure out,” Trent Johnson said, “but that’s the nature of the beast when you go on the road.”
Despite getting the ball inside, LSU’s big men attempted just one free throw.
“On most possessions, we try to throw the ball inside first,” Trent Johnson said. “Obviously, their size and strength was a problem, but without looking at tape, I recall maybe five or six bad shots. Tasmin took eight shots, only two jump shots. Marcus (Thornton) took the ball to the rim more than he has all year long.”
The score was tied just once after a dunk by Chris Johnson, who had eight points and 10 rebounds for LSU, tied it at 2-2 at 18:48. Alabama led the rest of the way after a Gee jumper with 18:28 left in the first half gave the Tide a 4-2 lead.
Alabama made a living getting to the free-throw line in the first half. Gee posted up at will, getting to the line for a 6-for-8 shooting first half. He drew two quick fouls from Garrett Temple, who scored eight points in just 25 minutes.
The Crimson Tide was 10-for-16 as a team in the first half, building its biggest first-half lead at 26-18 on a Hillman lay-up with 4:56 left in the half before settling for a 30-24 halftime lead.
The mounting fouls took their toll on LSU. Mitchell sat with two fouls after eight scoreless minutes. Gee drew two fouls from Temple and made him have to sit down the stretch.
“It’s hard when your best players are out of the game,” Johnson said.
Keeping the Tigers close was Thornton, who scored 13 points, had five rebounds and three steals in the first half while playing all 20 minutes.
Alabama 65, LSU 59
LSU (12-3, 0-1)
PLAYER M FG-A FT-A R F TP
Mitchell 28 5-8 0-1 3 4 10
Johnson 28 4-7 0-0 10 3 8
M. Thornton 39 8-20 3-5 8 3 21
Spencer 39 4-10 1-2 4 3 10
Temple 28 3-8 2-2 5 4 8
Graham 5 0-2 0-0 1 1 0
Bass 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Martin 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Warren 9 0-0 0-0 3 2 0
Farrer 7 0-0 0-0 0 5 0
Q. Thornton 15 1-2 0-0 2 3 2
TOTALS 200 25-57 6-10 38 28 59
Alabama (11-4, 1-0)
PLAYER M FG-A FT-A R F TP
Green 31 0-3 6-8 4 3 6
Knox 22 3-6 2-2 6 1 8
Gee 37 4-12 6-9 13 2 14
Hillman 35 8-18 8-12 3 3 24
R. Steele 36 2-10 0-2 3 0 5
Hollinger 8 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
A. Steele 16 2-3 0-0 0 3 5
Coleman 15 1-1 1-2 3 2 3
TOTALS 200 20-53 23-35 35 14 65
Halftime score: Alabama 30-24
Three-point goals: LSU 3-13 (M. Thornton 2-6, Spencer 1-4, Temple 0-3); Alabama 2-10 (Gee (0-2), Hillman 0-1, R. Steele 1-6, A. Steele 1-1).
Assists: LSU 13 (M. Thornton 4, Farrer 2, Johnson 2, Spencer, 2, Temple 1, Graham 1, Q. Thornton 1); Alabama 7 (Hillman 3, R. Steele 2, Hollinger 1, Gee 1).
Turnovers: LSU 17 (Spencer 6, M. Thornton 3, Temple 3, Mitchell 2, Johnson 1, Martin 1, Team 1).
Blocked shots: LSU 5 (Mitchell 2, Johnson 2, Temple 1); Alabama 6 (Green 2, Gee 2, Knox 1, R. Steele 1).
Steals: LSU 5 (M. Thornton 3, Mitchell 1, Warren 1); Alabama 4 (Green 1, Gee, Hillman 1, R. Steele 1).
Team rebounds: LSU 2; Alabama 3
Deadball rebounds: LSU 1; Alabama 7
Technical fouls: LSU (Team)
Officials: Stuart, Greene, Kitts
Attendance: 10,711
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