The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the LSU Tigers, 80-79, in the SEC championship game on Sunday in Nashville.
In one of the best basketball games of the 2020-21 season, LSU had the basketball with 7.3 seconds left with a chance to win. The inbounds pass went into LSU’s backcourt, forcing sophomore forward Trendon Watford to chase the ball and rush a 3-point attempt.
Watford’s attempt came up short, but LSU had two opportunities to win the game as two offensive rebounds led to two tip-in chances for the Tigers. Unfortunately, both fell short and time expired.
While this is obviously a very disappointing result, it was an incredible performance from Will Wade’s team.
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Watford was outstanding, scoring 30 points and pulling down eight rebounds. Alabama had no answer for Watford.
Each time it looked like Alabama was going to pull away, junior guard Javonte Smart took over. At one point, the Crimson Tide opened up a six-point lead with around seven minutes to play. Smart connected on back-to-back 3-point attempts to tie the game.
With around two minutes remaining, the Tide again looked like they were going to pull away. Smart again answered with consecutive 3-pointers.
Smart finished the game with 21 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
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LSU freshman guard Cameron Thomas scored 18 points and shot six of 18 from the field.
SEC player of the year, Herb Jones, scored 13 points, pulled down 11 rebounds, dished out six assists, and blocked three shots for Alabama.
Now, the Tigers await seeding for the NCAA Tournament. Their run in the SEC Tournament should give them a favorable seed for next week’s festivities.
Fought 'til the very end.#BootUp pic.twitter.com/cQWILlv6fp
— LSU Basketball (@LSUBasketball) March 14, 2021
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