Head coach Nate Oats and No. 25 Alabama are hoping for repeat performances from Labaron Philon Jr. and Aiden Sherrell when they face LSU on Saturday in Baton Rouge, La.
But maybe not the same drama.
Philon had 35 points while Sherrell added 26, both career highs, as the Crimson Tide needed two overtimes to overcome freshman Darius Acuff Jr.’s 49-point performance and escape with a 117-115 victory over No. 20 Arkansas on Wednesday.
Alabama (19-7, 9-4 Southeastern Conference), which has won five straight games, shot 76.2% (16 of 21) from the field in the second half to overcome a 14-point deficit.
Houston Mallette hit what turned out to be the winning jumper with 51 seconds remaining in the second overtime.
“That was a fun game, I’m sure the fans enjoyed that,” Oats said. “… Obviously, our defense wasn’t very good on Acuff, especially in the first half. We gotta do a better job, they had a better game plan than us, even though we got better as the game went on.”
Philon added seven assists and Sherrell grabbed 13 rebounds, also a career best. Amari Allen chipped in with 19 points and Aden Holloway contributed 15 as the Crimson Tide, who lead the nation in scoring at 92.7 points per game and recorded the second-most points in school history.
“Aiden Sherrell hasn’t really been able to play over 30 minutes, and he played almost 40 tonight and ended up with 26 points and 13 rebounds,” Oats said. “Philon made some big plays late, particularly on offense.”
LSU (14-12, 2-11) has been bitten hard by the injury bug this season. After starting the year 12-1, coach Matt McMahon’s Tigers have plummeted since the start of the SEC schedule.
The team has lost four in a row and seven of eight. The Tigers have lost three straight and are 1-5 in conference play at the Pete Maravich Center.
The team did come close to springing an upset in Austin on Tuesday before dropping an 88-85 decision to Texas.
Max Mackinnon, who missed the previous game against Tennessee with a knee injury, scored 27 points in 33 minutes off the bench to pace the Tigers, who rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit before coming up short at the end.
“Max’s movement without the ball, whether it was off-the-ball screen actions in the middle third or some of our baseline runners where we were setting pin downs for him, was able to be really effective, especially in the second half,” McMahon said.
Marquel Sutton had 21 points and five rebounds, followed by Mike Nwoko with 15 points, and Jalen Reece with 14 points and a career-high nine assists.
With Reece at the helm, LSU has turned the ball over just eight times combined in its last two games against Tennessee and Texas.
“We did a much better job finishing, shooting 63% in the second half and scored 52 points,” McMahon said. “I thought we were able to mix our looks. Jalen Reece did a fantastic job. He had nine assists and only one turnover. He orchestrated the offense.”
