It seemed the Deaf Dome was back.
LSU junior forward Shavon Coleman gave a head fake, crossed over Florida junior Will Yeguete and banked in a runner from just beyond the free throw line to knot the score at 19, bringing the gold-clad crowd of 9,964 to its feet as if it were the Dale Brown days.
Ten minutes later, the only audible shouting was that of Florida center Patric Young as he threw down a thunderous slam to extend the Gator lead to 48-25, as No. 11 Florida (12-2, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) flexed its muscles to coast to a 74-52 victory.
“We were just missing shots,” Coleman said. “We had wide open shots, they contested some shots and we just missed.”
After Coleman’s jumper with 5:38 remaining in the first half, the Tigers could only muster a Corban Collins free throw, an Anthony Hickey 3-pointer and another Coleman runner through the first 8 minutes of the second half as Florida ripped off a 31-6 run to hammer the nail in the
Tigers’ coffin.
“I thought we rushed a few shots,” said LSU coach Johnny Jones. “When you play a team that puts the type of pressure defense on you like Florida, you may rush some shots and take some shots early.”
Through its first two conference games, LSU (9-4, 0-2 SEC) was abysmal from the field, shooting a putrid 32.3 percent and 25 percent from 3-point land — dropping it from the top of the conference leaderboard to sixth in 3-point percentage.
While Coleman alluded to missing wide-open looks, Hickey credited the stout Florida defense for putting consistent pressure on the Tiger shooters.
“They bring pressure all the way up,” Hickey said. “They were able to switch and get length out on the frontcourt and on the bigs.”
Florida showed it didn’t miss its second-leading scorer, senior guard Mike Rosario, who was ruled out with a sprained ankle just before tip-off. Guard Kenny Boynton’s 20 points and forward Erik Murphy’s 12 points and seven boards picked up the slack for the absent Rosario.
Even when Florida forward Casey Prather went downline in the first half, Jones joked the Gators ran “two guys that looked just like him” out of the locker room.
“[Florida has] guys injured just like we do,” Jones said. “But they just continued running guys in there and continued to play.”
LSU was limited to many one-shot possessions while the Gators cruised to a 53-34
rebound advantage.
Jones said he listed one of the goals for the game as winning the war on the boards, but credited the Gators’ size and strength for limiting a Tiger team that had been otherwise solid on the glass throughout the season.
“We were exposed today,” Jones said. “Size, strength and quickness.”
