Louisiana State @ Alabama preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 8, 2019 ) Alabama 79, Louisiana State 88

No. 14 LSU is expected to have sophomore guard Tremont Waters back on the floor when it visits Alabama on Saturday for an SEC matchup. Waters, who leads the team in scoring (15.7 points) and assists (5.9), missed the last two games with an undisclosed illness, but the Tigers defeated No. 7 Tennessee and Texas A&M in his absence to remain in a first-place tie in the conference.

“I thought we did some really good things without Tremont - the flow of the offense was still very, very good,” LSU coach Will Wade told The Advocate. “I thought defensively, we stayed between our man and the basket. Now the key is, we just need to continue to do those things and add Tremont back in and doing those things at a high level, which he can do.” The Tigers, who are tied with Tennessee and No. 4 Kentucky, own the tiebreaker for the SEC regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with victories over each team. Alabama is coming off a 68-62 triumph at South Carolina on Tuesday and has won two straight but could use another Quadrant 1 victory to improve its position on the NCAA Tournament bubble. LSU snapped a five-game losing streak in the series with an 88-79 victory on Jan. 8 behind 19 points and seven assists from Waters.

TV: Noon ET, ESPN

ABOUT LSU (23-5, 13-2 SEC): Freshman forward Naz Reid (13.5 points, team-high 6.8 rebounds) bounced back from a subpar performance against Tennessee (one point) with 18 points versus Texas A&M on Tuesday and is averaging 15.1 in his last eight games. Freshman guard Javonte Smart (11.1 points) stepped up in Waters' absence by scoring 46 points - the best two-game total of his career. Junior guard Skylar Mays (13.5 points) recorded 11 points, six rebounds and five assists on Tuesday - matching his season-high total of boards and assists combined - and is averaging 17.3 points over his last three contests.

ABOUT ALABAMA (17-11, 8-7): Freshman guard Kira Lewis Jr. averages a team-best 14.3 points and his 13.7 in SEC games also paces the club after he scored a total of 36 in the last two contests. Senior forward Donta Hall (11 points, team-high 8.5 rebounds) needs 36 points and nine boards to become the fifth player in school history to record 1,000 points, 800 rebounds and 200 blocks. Sophomore guard John Petty averages 10.4 points but has reached double figures only once in his last seven games.

TIP-INS

1. The Crimson Tide are 10-3 at home this season, with two of the losses - to Texas A&M and Georgia State - coming on buzzer-beating 3-pointers.

2. Waters and Mays are 1-2 in the SEC in steals at three and 1.96 per game.

3. LSU can match a school record on Saturday with its eighth road victory of the season.

PREDICTION: LSU 75, Alabama 74