Florida vs. LSU score, takeaways: No. 2 Gators overcome blown lead as big men star in blowout

Basketball

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Image Credit: UAA

Fresh off learning earlier Saturday that ESPN’s “College GameDay” would be visiting Gainesville, Florida, No. 2 Florida Gators basketball appeared poised to suffer its worst loss of the season. However, despite giving up a 14-point lead in the first half, Florida leaned on its frontcourt down the stretch to pull away for a 79-65 win over the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The Gators improved to 24-3 (11-3 SEC) on the season, the third-best record through 27 games in program history. They did so by overcoming one of the worst stretches of shooting the team had experienced this season with a consistent and dominant second-half effort in which UF simply reufsed to be denied.

Let’s take a look at what went down in Florida’s sixth straight win with some Fastbreak Takeaways.

It was over when … guards senior Will Richard and redshirt senior Alijah Martin, who had been quiet and ineffective nearly the entire game, broke out on consecutive sequences. Richard swiped two balls finding Martin both times for a pair of 3-point plays — the former traditional, the latter from beyond the arc. This kicked off a 14-0 run that pushed the Gators ahead by 18 points with 2 minutes to play, effectively icing the game.

Florida utilized an extended 22-6 scoring stretch — led by 12 combined points from sophomores center Rueben Chinyelu and forward Thomas Haugh — to retake the lead for the first time in the second half and ultimately go take an eight-point lead with 9 minutes to play. It went back and forth with LSU between those streaks with UF never relinquishing its advantage over the final 12:16.

First half focus: Florida used an 11-0 run to open an early 18-4 lead (despite missing some gimmies at the rim) as LSU started 3 of 13 from the field. However, the Gators completely blew that advantage allowing the Tigers to take and build their first lead of the game with a 22-2 scoring stretch as the visitors went 1 of 12 from the floor. That transpired over the final 6:41 of the opening period with a 14-point lead turning into a six-point deficit at the break. UF shot 32.4% with its triumvirate of star guards combining to go 4 of 18 in the opening 20 minutes.

Exceptional efforts: Chinyelu was the definition of this designation Saturday dropping a career-high 19 points with 10 rebounds in an effort that kept Florida afloat as its long-range offense struggled. Haugh was similarly impressive posting 13 points and 10 boards with each big man registering his third double-double of the season. Clayton stood out as the only starting guard who did much of anything early posting 13 points, but he posted that line on a paltry 5 of 14 shooting with no assists (or turnovers, to be fair). Martin broke out over a stretch of a few minutes late in the game, finishing with 14 points, but he was similarly inefficient on 4 of 13 shooting. Both backcourt standouts registered 6 rebounds. Making up for a scoreless, 0-of-3 performance from Richard, who ensured he played a role in the victory with five dimes, junior G Denzel Aberdeen scored 11 points.

Odds & ends: Florida improved to 54-66 in the all-time series with LSU holding a 17-36 mark in Baton Rouge … head coach Todd Golden is 4-0 in the series still having never lost to Matt McMahon in SEC play … the Gators under Golden won a rare game when trailing at halftime (13-20 overall, 5-3 this season) … Florida under Golden improved to 59-5 when leading with 5 minutes left, 45-9 when outrebounding an opponent, 58-7 when outshooting an opponent, 52-8 when outshooting an opponent from 3-point range and 21-3 when 5+ players score in double figures … Clayton extended his program record making a 3-pointer in his 49th consecutive game

What it means: The Gators took a major punch Saturday night, went down to the canvas and responded out of the break with haymakers to put the Tigers to bed for good. It was yet another test passed for a team that has continued to overcome various types of adversity throughout the season. A long-range shooting team, Florida’s shots were simply not falling from beyond the arc throughout most of the contest. Golden instead focused on post play, and the Gators dominated by outscoring the Bayou Bengals 44-24 in the paint with 56% of the visitors’ points coming from down low. UF also won the rebounding battle 48-33 (19-12 offensive) leading to a 17-8 margin on second-chance points.

This win kept hope for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament alive as a potential road loss to a poor LSU team might have been devastating for the resume. Golden continuing his dominance over McMahon since joining the SEC — given some once beleived the Gators made the wrong choice in the 2022 offseason — is surely a feather in his cap as well.

What’s next? Florida will remain on the road Tuesday when it visits Georgia for a 7 p.m. ET tip off on SEC Network. The Gators beat the Dawgs 89-59 back in their first meeting on Jan. 25.