BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Tari Eason scored 20 points and had a key block that led to his go-ahead dunk with 38 seconds left in overtime, and LSU scored the final six points to beat No. 25 Alabama 80-77 on Saturday.
Darius Days had 24 points and Brandon Murray finished with 17 for LSU (21-10, 9-9 Southeastern Conference), which came in having lost three of four.
Keon Ellis scored 19 points for Alabama (19-12, 9-9) and Jahvon Quinerly added 16, including a 3-pointer in OT that gave the Crimson Tide a 75-74 lead. Ellis extended the advantage to three points on his layup with 1:31 remaining, but Alabama didn't score again.
Eason made two free throws with 1:11 left. Then he blocked a field-goal attempt by Ellis. Murray retrieved the loose ball and fed Eason, who slammed it home.
The Crimson Tide’s next possession ended with a shot-clock violation. Eric Gaines made two free throws for the Tigers with 7 seconds left, and Quinerly missed a 3 at the buzzer.
LSU took its first lead of the second half at 66-64 on a basket by Days with 3:21 remaining. After falling behind by four points, Alabama came back to tie the score at 70 when Davison made a free throw with 1:17 to play.
Days' layup with 51 seconds remaining gave Tigers a 72-70 lead. The Crimson Tide forced overtime when Ellis made two foul shots with 12 seconds left.
Ellis carried Alabama for a three-minute stretch earlier in the half. He scored 10 straight points, including two 3-pointers, as the Crimson Tide grabbed a 54-51 lead.
But Alabama never led by more than five points in the second half of a game that was tight all the way. Neither team had a double-digit lead at any point.
BIG PICTURE
Alabama: Quite appropriately, the Crimson Tide’s up-and-down season ended with a .500 conference record. Alabama lost its last two SEC games to Texas A&M and LSU.
LSU: The Tigers evened their SEC mark by finally winning a close game. LSU had dropped its last three conference games by a total of eight points.
UP NEXT
Both teams will play their SEC Tournament openers in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday.
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