Tide goes for fourth straight win

Alabama played through the adversity of a four-game losing streak in the SEC.

Now the Crimson Tide has given itself a chance to extend a three-game winning streak when its visits LSU tonight (6 p.m., ESPN2).

Tide coach Anthony Grant, who called out his team’s immaturity earlier in the season, saw his players pull together and for each other in Tuesday night’s 68-50 victory at Auburn. Grant would love to see a repeat of that tonight in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

“The energy and the emotion and the passion our guys played with tonight, that was a lot of fun to watch,” Grant said after the Auburn game. “They were really into what we needed to do to win the game. … There was a lot of emotion throughout the game on our bench tonight.”

Ten Alabama players played at least seven minutes against Auburn. And the bench outscored the Tigers 28-9 to continue its recent improved play. Alabama has averaged more than 28 points from its reserves in the last four games.

Charles Hankerson came off the bench and scored 14 points. Freshman Rodney Cooper was 3-for-3 with two 3-pointers.

But senior forward JaMychal Green credited 7-footer Carl Engstrom with setting the tone early for Alabama (16-7, 5-4 SEC).

“I think he is the one that brought the energy to the team,” Green said. “He came out there and did a great job. He was on the boards and he scored four points and that was huge for us.”

The 7-foot-1 sophomore from Ystad, Sweden, remains a work in progress and a long-term project. But his timetable was moved forward quickly when Auburn center Rob Chubb hit his first four shots against Alabama.

Instead of “Feed the Swede,” the Coleman Coliseum chant directed his way in rare moments of playing time, the Tide, well, needed the Swede. Engstrom at least had the size to stand in front of Chubb.

He played just seven minutes – his first action since he put in four minutes in the home victory over LSU on Jan. 11 – but Grant agreed with Green those were key minutes. He scored four points, grabbed an offensive rebound and blocked a shot.

“Carl was huge,” said Grant, who reminded reporters that Engstrom has played basketball for only three years. “He’s new to the game. Every day in practice, he comes to work and tries to get better.

“He’s got the right approach, the right attitude. We felt like today he would have an opportunity to impact the game, and he did that. So I’m really happy for him.”

Alabama defeated LSU 69-53 in the first meeting in Tuscaloosa, two days after the Tide’s BCS National Championship game victory over the Tigers.

LSU (13-10, 3-6) has lost four its last five games. However, the Tigers’ only home loss in the SEC has been against top-ranked Kentucky.

Justin Hamilton leads LSU with 13.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Anthony Hickey and Andre Stringer, who led the Tigers with 13 points in the first meeting, each average 9.9 points per game.