Retin Obasohan made play after play for the Crimson Tide in Saturday’s meeting with LSU and the final minute was no different.
Obasohan attempted to drive to the basket in the last 20 seconds of the game, but his shot was off and LSU superstar Ben Simmons came down with the ball. The Crimson Tide’s chances of winning seemed over, but Obasohan went for the ball and forced the refs to call a jump ball.
Obasohan’s second attempt at a similar looking play didn’t fare any better, and LSU (12-7, 5-2) grabbed the rebound this time for good, to defeat the Crimson Tide (10-8, 1-5) 72-70.
“We were trying to run a play that had been working for us all game, but we just went a little bit too fast,” Johnson said. “Obviously the last play will be a big focal point of the game, but there were some errors that we committed in the last three minutes that we hadn’t committed all game, and that’s the disappointing part.”
Obasohan finished the game with a team-high 20 points and five rebounds. He was the only Alabama to score in the final four minutes of the game, and he picked up three of his final four points on a long 3 shot from the script A near half court.
LSU coach Johnny Jones said his team was trying to keep Obasohan from closing on the rim on the final play.
“We were fortunate we made him play over the top of us both times and it was difficult shots for him that just didn’t go down,” Jones said. “But I’ve seen him make those plays as well.”
Arthur Edwards finished with 17 points, but went 0-2 in the final five minutes of play after a 5-9 start from the field.
“They jumped into a little bit of a zone [defense], and we got a couple good looks that just didn’t go down,” Johnson said. “We baited them into what we wanted to get, we kicked it out for a couple shots, but we missed a few shots there at the basket.”
Another bright spot for Alabama was Riley Norris who finished with a double-double for the second time this season. Norris finished the game with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and after the game Norris said the team needed to leave Saturday’s loss behind him.
“As a competitor, you want to win in everything you do,” Norris said. “ We’re going to shake this off and get back to work tomorrow.”
One thing Johnson said he wants to do going forward is make sure his team is making the extra pass it needs to, especially when Norris is on the court. Johnson said there were a few times in the game that Norris was unguarded, but he didn’t get the ball.
“You saw a tough University of Alabama Crimson Tide team that doesn’t back down from a challenge,” Johnson said. “We just have to finish out how to close better [in these SEC games].”
