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Tide @ Tigers: LSU Game Open Thread

MOAR INSIDE PLEASE!
MOAR INSIDE PLEASE!
Kelly Lambert-USA TODAY Sports

Time 12:30pm CST
Place Maravich Coliseum, Baton Rouge, LA
TV SEC Network
Radio CTSN
Internet ESPN3, @AlabamaMBB

LSU: 15-9, 6-7

RPI: .5369 (104th)

Key Players: Soph. F Johnny O'Bryant (13.5 PPG, 8.6 RPG), Soph. G Anthony Hickey (11.8 PPG, 3.9 APG, 3.2 SPG)

Note: LSU comes into the game having won 5 of their last 7 and 12 of their 14 home games this season. The Tide own a 102-67 series lead heading into the 170th meeting of these two teams.

Alabama: 18-8, 10-3 (2nd in SEC)

RPI: .5737 (59th)

Key Players: Jr, G Trevor Releford (14.5 PPG, .392 3%PG, 2.1 SPG), Soph. G Rodney Cooper (11.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 250 FGA)

Note: Alabama comes off a win at home vs Mississippi State which marked the 11th straight time the Tide has held an opponent under 60 points and the 18th time this season.

Coach Anthony Grant:

"I don't know that there is a secret [to winning close games]. We've been in a lot of close games of the course of the season and I think our guys have done a good job of being focused and understanding what we need to do, whether it's executing an offensive play at the end of a game, or coming up with defensive stop or rebound, or making timely free-throws. You just have to play the game and our guys have done a good job of that."

On if he thinks youth is a reason for inconsistency or if youth is an excuse:

"I think it's real. We're dealing with college students that have a lot going on in terms of the demands of being a college athlete and the demands of being a student. They have individual, personal things going on in their lives as well. I think there is, for lack of a better word, always distractions and sometimes it's very easy to get complacent in no matter what you do. For our guys, it's a constant challenge, just like anybody else, to stay focused on the task at hand and to not lose sight of the process so to speak. I think some of that has to do with maturity that you see sometimes with young teams having to understand. We've had a lot of lessons over the course of the season, some of them being tough lessons. My hope is that we can get better at that and it's my expectation that we will."