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Alabama just couldn’t miss.
Like some feverish dream of a basketball game, Crimson Tide’s debut game as a ranked team was, frankly, outrageous.
A 105-75 victory at LSU was his eighth in a row thanks to an unconscious first half that defied logic and never really ended. Alabama broke their own SEC record for 3 points with 23 and came a few steps from the NCAA mark of 28.
Alabama (12-3, 7-0 SEC) have now tied their longest winning streak since 2002 while taking a two-game lead in the SEC standings. The 105 points was a high for Nate Oats’ era after reaching that total in an overtime win in Georgia last year.
He did so in a dizzying fashion one night when the lead reached 43 in the second half. Freshman Darius Miles hit the record 3 with 3:00 to play one night, the Tide went 23 of 43 deep. That’s an incredible 53.5% to break the record set at Auburn in overtime last year. The Tide took 59 attempts to hit the previous record of 22 last year at 37.2%.
They did it without one of their best shooters doing a single 3. Jaden Shackelford was 0-for-3 deep but led the team plus-minus on the stats sheet.
John Petty has it covered. The senior was the star at the start of his first seven 3-point attempts and finished 8-for-10 at long distance.
“Shooting the ball so well is like another day in the gym, another day in the shooting lab,” Petty said. “When I feel like I’m stepping into an area like this, I just feel like I’m in the gym shooting on my own.
An all-round cast joined in from there to cross the 100-point mark for the first time this season.
Petty was 21 of 24 in the first half as Alabama led by no less than 31 before halftime against an LSU team that had won four in a row before Tuesday night.
“I was a little worried going into the game, we would be a little big or whatever,” Oats said afterwards.
It was quite the opposite, in fact.
The No.18 Tide went out in range and never really slowed down. He made six of his first seven behind the arc to take an 18-4 lead. It eventually turned into a 17-0 run powered by Petty, then Josh Primo and point guard Jahvon Quinerly.
The header hit 20 in the second TV time-out and was 23 after Petty hit his sixth straight 3 before others got involved. Herbert Jones added 13.
Primo made his first five deep while Quinerly connected on his first three. The two joined Petty at north of 20 as both scored 22.
The shoot-off was nothing Oats had known as a coach.
“We’re playing for the top spot in the SEC and dating a bunch of guys spinning like that?” No, I never… it was a little crazy, ”he says.
Alabama went to halftime making 14 of 19 from perimeter with a 60-32 lead. That edge swelled to 89-46 as the hot shot continued after half-time. Quinerly went 3-for-3 deep to help push the lead to his 43-point preview.
The early arrival of the walking minutes was the only thing to slow the offensive explosion which reached the 100 point mark with 3:17 left. Oats wasn’t too excited about the end of the 30-point victory.
“I was a little disappointed with the way we closed the game in the last eight minutes,” Oats said. “We’re going to do a cleanup of this game. There may not be too many cleanings, but we will do a cleanup. … As soon as we think there is nothing more for improvement, you step back.
Alabama host Mississippi State (9-6, 4-3 SEC) at 5 p.m. PT on Saturday with an attempt to tie the 2002-03 team’s nine straight games. .
This message will be updated.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on twitter @ByCasagrande Or on Facebook.
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