If one thing proved true in No. 4 Alabama basketball’s 80-73 win over LSU, it’s that on any given night in the SEC, anything can happen.

Arriving at Coleman Coliseum with just one SEC win, LSU put up a scrappy and physical fight against the Crimson Tide. The Tigers went into halftime tied at 40-40 and even held small leads throughout the game.

Despite struggles from starting point guard Mark Sears and issues on the offensive glass early on, Alabama managed to pull away in the second half, avoiding a second conference loss and pleasing a nearly fully packed crowd.

Before we move on to Wednesday night’s matchup between Alabama and No. 14 Mississippi State, here are five key numbers that defined the Tide’s win over the Tigers.

7 — Clifford Omoruyi bounced back in the second half, snagging seven rebounds after a quiet first half with just two. LSU dominated the glass in the opening 20 minutes, but Omoruyi’s effort in the second half helped shift the momentum for Alabama. He finished with eight points and a team-high nine rebounds. Coach Nate Oats praised his performance, noting that it earned Omoruyi the Hard Hat Award.

“ Cliff, I didn’t think he was bringing it,” Oats said. “…Cliff was not rebounding like he needed to, wasn’t playing as hard as we’d have liked. And it ends up going out and playing extremely hard in the second half, had a great attitude on the bench and ends up winning hard hat.”

The Rutgers transfer has turned it up a notch since the beginning of conference play. He ranks in the top 13 in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage among SEC players, according to KenPom.com.

13 — One of the key reasons LSU managed to stay within striking distance for most of its trip to Coleman Coliseum was its tenacious effort on the offensive glass in the first half. The Tigers dominated Alabama 13-5 in offensive rebounds during the opening 20 minutes, largely thanks to four-star freshman Corey Chest’s absurd nine offensive boards in the first period alone.

After the game, Oats said rebounds will be a significant point of emphasis for his group going forward.

“ I got to give a ton of credit to LSU,” Oats said. “Corey Chest with 15 rebounds in the first half…,” Oats said. “That was, that was a major issue. All the offensive boards they had. They ended up outscoring us on second-chance points only by three, but we gave up way too many boards… It’s the fourth time this season we got out-rebounded. So that’s something we’re gonna have to really address going into Mississippi State.”

3 — LSU struggled from beyond the arc, making just three of 23 attempts from deep, which was a season-low. The Tigers’ measly three makes marks the second-lowest number of 3-pointers against Alabama this season. After the game, LSU head coach Matt McMahon said LSU’s inefficient shooting cost the Tigers down the stretch.

“We just weren’t able to make enough shots to give us a better chance there late,” McMahon said. “Credit to Alabama’s defense, credit to Alabama for the win.”

17 — Alabama star point guard Mark Sears played a season-low 17 minutes, all of which came in the first half, the fewest minutes he’s logged in a game since his freshman season at Ohio. Sears also posted the second-lowest offensive rating of his career on KenPom, finishing with a 28, ahead of the 21 he recorded earlier this season against Illinois.

After Sears had a rough first half, Oats mentioned that the coaching staff is implementing a philosophical shift moving forward.

“ We’re done starting the same group that starts the game, we’re gonna start the guys that we think give us the best chance to get a great start in the second half,” Oats said.

Fortunately for Oats, Alabama’s various backcourt options allow them to play a multitude of lineups depending on who’s hot.

9 — USF transfer Chris Youngblood, who made his first career start vs LSU, contributed to all nine of Alabama’s opening points. The Tuscaloosa native opened the game with seven and assisted Clifford Omoruyi on an alley-oop.

While not being upset about coming off the bench to begin the season, Youngblood said he was happy to finally get a start.

“It felt good,” Youngblood said. “It’s funny because at first, my family thought I’d mad about not starting, but I’m like, man, this team is wonderful, so I embraced this coming off the bench role… It was fun, man. It was fun.”