Aided by late surge in the first half to take a seven-point lead at the break, the LSU men’s basketball team pushed past an undermanned Florida team, 70-63, on Saturday afternoon in the PMAC.
LSU sophomore forward Jarell Martin recorded a career-high in points (28) and grabbed his 11th double-double of the season on 8-of-15 shooting to match 13 rebounds.
After taking a 22-9 lead with 10:59 left in the first half, the Tigers (19-8, 8-6 Southeastern Conference) went on a more than seven-minute scoring drought, allowing the Gators (13-14, 6-8 SEC) to grab a brief lead.
But with the game tied at 26, Martin swiped Florida sophomore guard Kasey Hill and threw down a between-the-legs slam in transition to give the Tigers the lead for good. The Tigers went on 15-2 run from the 1:57 mark in the first half into the first three minutes of the second half.
The Gators were without their two leading-scorers, junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith and junior guard Michael Frazier II, finishing the game only 35.3 percent from the field.
