TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Earlier in the season, before he suffered a fractured left wrist, Herbert Jones was just messing around at practice and shot some free throws with one hand.

That was good practice for the last two weeks, as the Alabama wing was limited to shooting with only his right hand after undergoing surgery to repair the wrist he injured in the Crimson Tide’s last meeting with LSU. It also came in handy Saturday when the Tigers came to town and Jones was tasked with shooting a pair of free throws with 1:39 left in the game.

Leading LSU 77-75, Jones sank both shots from the charity stripe. And the crowd went wild.

“I’m getting chills,” head coach Nate Oats said. “I was getting chills when the crowd went nuts when he went 2-for-2 at the free-throw line. I think our fans know what a warrior that kid is, and they wanted to reward him with the rousing ovation they gave him when he went 2-for-2.

“They know all he cares about is winning.”

Jones missed three games with the wrist injury but was able to return to the floor in Alabama’s last game at Auburn, though on a limited basis. He played seven minutes in the overtime loss earlier this week, entering the game after the first media timeout with a bulky cast on his left hand, but posted a +13 in his limited appearance a week and a half after surgery.

His minutes more than quadrupled in the Tide’s home game against LSU on Saturday, as he saw 29 minutes of action and pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds … with one hand. He also added six points, on 2-of-6 shooting from the field, three assists, two blocks and one steal. Jones received the Hard Hat Award for earning 35 blue-collar points after the game.

“I just go out every night with the mindset to help my team in any way possible,” Jones said. “Knowing that I was going to be kind of shorthanded on the offensive end, I just knew I had to impact the game another way. Just any time they shot the ball, I crashed.

“I had to match up with Emmitt Williams, who’s a great rebounder, and I had to box him out and keep him off the glass and open myself up for a lot of rebounds.”

Jones has played the last two games with a black cast on his left hand, though Saturday’s cast was a little less bulky than the one he sported at Auburn. The 6-foot-7, 205-pound junior also said he is not as sore as he was soon after his Feb. 1 surgery. His wrist “felt better than it did in the Auburn game,” which is why Oats played him nearly 30 minutes against LSU.

The fans at Coleman Coliseum appreciated Jones’ one-handed effort. And so did the Tigers.

“Just an absolute warrior,” said LSU head coach Will Wade.

“He’s a winner. He’s a great kid. Him and (Trendon) Watford are best friends. For him to come out there and do that for his team, hopefully, he’ll be what they need to get in the NCAA Tournament and kind of move forward from here. Tremendous, tremendous player.”

Jones’ performance on the glass was one of the differences in the game. On Jan. 29, LSU dominated Alabama in the rebounding column, 49-31. This time around, it was only 44-42. With 17 rebounds, including 12 on the defensive end of the floor, he led the Crimson Tide to an 88-82 win -- its second Quadrant 1 victory of the year. Without Jones, who knows the outcome.

“For a guy to just continue to go in and out, in and out ... he was cool with just playing defense the whole game,” Oats said after the win. “He doesn’t really care. He just wants to win. I think our people recognize that. I think he’s a winner, and it’s great to have him back.

“Even if he’s only got one arm, it’s great to have him back.”

Contact Charlie Potter by personal message or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).