Even while he roamed the bench in the Sun Belt for eleven years, Johnny Jones didn’t forget the battles he went through as both a player and coach night in and night out in the Southeastern Conference.
His young LSU team will get a first-hand look at the SEC grind for itself on Saturday.
Coming off a frustrating 68-63 road loss to Auburn, LSU (9-3, 0-1 SEC) returns to the friendly confines of Baton Rouge to face the conference’s elite.
“I think all of our guys have to understand how important it is that it’s one of those situations that’s behind us,” Jones said. “We have to learn from experience, we have to bounce back and we have to do that quickly.”
No. 11 Florida (11-2, 1-0 SEC) invades the PMAC as the perennial SEC power, anchored by veteran guards Mike Rosario and Kenny Boynton and 6-foot-9 junior center Patric Young protecting the inside.
Laden with upperclasmen, the Gators steamrolled Georgia to open conference play Wednesday, 77-44, using coach Billy Donovan’s trademark full-court press to force 19 Georgia turnovers and limit the Bulldogs to 1-10 from three-point land.
“One of the strengths of their basketball team is pressing, stealing the ball and getting easy scoring opportunities,” Jones said. “We’ve got to make sure that we execute at a high level and take care of the ball.”
Led in the Wednesday loss by junior guard Andre Stringer’s 13 points and senior guard Charles Carmouche’s seven assists and six rebounds, LSU will look to extend an eight-game home winning streak by sticking to its guns with stingy defense and firepower from beyond the arc.
Playing in his third different conference in five years of college basketball, Carmouche lamented the slow start that plagued LSU at Auburn and insisted Florida will be more apt to pounce on a vulnerable LSU team – if the start mirrors Wednesday night.
“They’ve been in these type of environments, so we just have to come out and play for 40 minutes,” Carmouche said. “[We can] not wait until the last minute or go at different spurts of the game.”
Sophomore forward Johnny O’Bryant III, hobbled by a high ankle sprain, was plagued by foul trouble in the Auburn game, limiting him to only six points in 25 minutes of play.
When O’Bryant exited the game, Auburn reeled off an 18-3 run to put the Tigers down double digits, a turning point in the contest according to O’Bryant, and something he said he’ll try to avoid against the Gators.
“I definitely need to be on the floor helping my team rebound and offensively,” O’Bryant said. “We don’t have a lot of size and me going out of the game definitely limits us.”
In 17 years with Donovan at the helm, Florida has seen the highest of highs with back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007 all the while holding an 11-8 record against the Tigers.
“[Billy Donovan] has done a great job of recruiting guys that fit into a system,” Jones said. “They run a nice up-tempo style of offense. They do a great job of keeping the floor open for driving lanes for some of their guys.”
And as if the Gators’ prestige and accolades aren’t enough, Jones pointed to the Gators’ November 29 contest against Marquette, a team that LSU trailed by 21 before rallying.
“Well they destroyed Marquette,” Jones said. “And pretty much everyone else they’ve played this year.”
LSU head coach Johnny Jones and his bench players react near the end of a loss to Auburn in an NCAA college basketball game at Auburn Arena in Auburn, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013. Auburn beat LSU 68-63. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
