By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY: Not many teams can withstand a 22-2 run.
Florida can.
The Gators are championship good, and LSU threw its best punch on Saturday night. The iron-jawed visitors from Gainesville didn’t flinch. LSU finished the first half up six points courtesy of that 22-2 spurt. When it was said and done, Florida had a comfortable 79-65 win on the road.
Florida annihilated LSU’s four-guard lineup on the glass. They turned up the defensive intensity after halftime. They went on a 14-0 from the 4:58 mark of the second half to the 2:22 mark. That’s a two minute and 36 seconds haymaker.
And that’s why Florida is 11-3 in SEC play and LSU is 3-11.
What was a four-point game just under six to play was non-competitive over the last three minutes.
The Tigers did what they could. Robert Miller continued his late-season surge. Dji Bailey played efficiently. Mike Williams hit some huge shots in the first half.
All of that is positive, but LSU simply cannot withstand a clunker from Cam Carter. He missed all six of his threes and shot just 3-for-13 from the floor.
No player in the SEC is as important to his team as Carter, and he just didn’t have it on Saturday night.
THE STATS: LSU lost the rebounding battle 48 to 33
LSU had 21 defensive rebounds. Florida had 19 offensive rebounds. That led to 17 second-chance points.
Robert Miller had 19 points and 10 rebounds. He made all five of his free throws.
LSU only blocked one shot.
Florida only committed five turnovers,
Florida’s frontcourt combo of Rueben Chinyelu (19 and 13) and Thomas Haugh (16 and 10) both had double doubles. They combined to shoot 15-for-23 (65%).
LSU shot 6-for-16 (38%) from three in the first half and 3-for-15 (20%) in the second half.
LSU missed eight shots in a row in the first half, falling behind by 14.
Florida missed 13-of-14 as LSU climbed back into it.
Mike Williams (3-for-6) and Curtis Givens (3-for-9) both made three triples.
Florida won paint points 44-24.
THE QUOTES: Matt McMahon on the loss…
“When you look at the story of the game, obviously they physically dominated us in the painted area. At one point we were 12-1 in assist to turnover ratio. We finished 3-6 in that stretch where they built their lead. And we weren’t able to knock down some of those threes that we were hitting earlier in the game. And obviously the offensive glass. They just overwhelmed us there.”
