Coming off a huge victory at home against Auburn, Alabama hosts LSU in Saturday prime time game on ESPN. Alabama seemed to find something in their last win with a tough performance after being called out by their coach. It was a tough game that featured a little bit of everything including some not so great basketball. But, this team found a way when they needed it most. Here’s a preview of tonight’s SEC match up.

Alabama

Alabama comes into this game having won 4 of their last 5. They are scoring just under 89 points per game which is currently the 4th most in the country. They have lost only one SEC game so far so this one will be big for them to keep pace in the conference. Mark Sears still leads the SEC in scoring with 19.9 ppg, which is also good for 28th in the country. Of course this Alabama team is always looking to shoot 3s, but LSU is holding opponents to just 33% from 3 and 40% from the field.

LSU

LSU comes in to this game having lost their last 2 and 3 of their last 5. They are not having a great season so far with a 11-8 record and just 3-3 in SEC play. This team only scores 76 ppg, but they are holding their opponents to 70 ppg. They are not an offensive power house by any means, their leading scorer averages just under 16 ppg. They are much more of a defensive team, averaging 9.3 steals per game, a full 2 more than Alabama. And while they do hold teams to a pretty low 3 point percentage, they themselves are not a great 3 point team, shooting just 34%. Not terrible but certainly not Alabama’s 40%. What this LSU team does have is size with 3 forwards at 6’10” plus a 7 footer.

Outlook

No real secrets here. Alabama is going to be looking to run the floor at break neck speeds while LSU is going to be looking to slow things down. Alabama is going to try to shoot a lot of 3s, LSU will likely go over screens to prevent that. LSU will be trying to get the ball down low to their big men, Alabama will more than likely be aggressive with their help defense. The line for the game has Alabama favored at -12.5 with the total set at 161. I think Alabama will cover 12.5 pretty easily. Sure, you could say that they are coming off of a very emotional win and this game could be a let down spot. I think it is more likely that this team found something and is ready to go on a good stretch.

If I were looking at the total I would probably favor the under. LSU doesn’t score a lot and it could get out of hand early. I do think Grant Nelson will have a big game. He finished the game against Auburn very strong and I think this match up favors him. He has size but can shoot it well so Alabama can space the floor and get him on the perimeter where he has the advantage over LSU’s bigs. I like him to score over his total of 12.5 points. Maybe you don’t care as much about Alabama Basketball (you should) and you are wanting more football info. Click here to read why Vegas gives Alabama a good chance to win the CFP National Championship. And don’t forget to follow on Twitter/X here for live updates and commentary on tonight’s game!