Florida men’s basketball coach Billy Donovan was seeking his 500th career victory when his Gators tipped off against LSU over the weekend.
Instead, the Tigers handed Donovan loss No. 203.
LSU built a 12-0 lead in the game’s first four minutes but had to fight off a spirited rally from an undermanned Florida squad before pulling away down the stretch, 70-63, Saturday afternoon in the PMAC.
The Tigers (19-8, 8-6 Southeastern Conference) led by as many as 16 points in the second half but had to overcome a late rally from the Gators (13-14, 6-8 SEC), who played without their two leading scorers for the second consecutive game.
But LSU coach Johnny Jones said he’ll take a win any time he can get one, especially against a scrappy Florida club whose last four losses have come by a combined 16 points.
“We knew going in that it would be a tough game [Saturday] with Florida, who always does an excellent job of battling,” Jones said. “Whether they’ve been victorious or having setbacks, they have played everyone extremely close for the most part.”
A two-handed dunk by Florida freshman forward Devin Robinson trimmed LSU’s lead to 54-48 with 6:03 to go. But freshman guard Jalyn Patterson answered with a 3-pointer on the next possession to push the Tigers’ lead back to nine.
LSU sealed the win down the stretch by draining its last five free throws, giving the Tigers their first season sweep of Florida since 1991.
But it wasn’t the prettiest game for the Tigers, who won despite being outscored by Florida in the paint (32-22), off of turnovers (22-9) and on second-chance opportunities (13-6).
LSU shot 40 percent from the field and went just 5-of-17 from 3-point territory. The Tigers also endured a 7:38 scoring drought in the first half that allowed the Gators to erase its early 12-0 hole.
With the offense struggling for long stretches throughout the game, LSU turned up the heat defensively. The Tigers held Florida to 35.3 percent shooting from the field and 26.1 percent from beyond the arc.
“We sat on 22 (points) for a long time,” Jones said. “We had a long gap without scoring any field goals. When they were scoring in the second half, we did more scoring and made plays. We shot a lower percentage, but we were able to make plays. When we didn’t, we were able to defend them as well.”
Three Tigers reached double figures, led by sophomore forward Jarell Martin’s career-high 28 points, who also notched a double-double with 13 boards.
LSU sophomore forward Jordan Mickey scored 14 points and junior guard Keith Hornsby added 12 while hitting a pair of 3-pointers.
“We just played with a different edge down the stretch,” Hornsby said. “Rebounding was really important and we executed our offense better this time. We didn’t shoot as many threes.“
While LSU got big games from its top scorers, the Gators had to play without their own.
Florida junior guard Michael Frazier III (high ankle sprain) and junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith (indefinite suspension) each sat out for the second consecutive game, taking away a combined 26.1 points per game.
Junior guard Eli Carter led the Gators with 14 points but missed 10 of his 14 field goal attempts. Freshman forward Devin Robinson chipped in 12 and grabbed seven boards.
It looked like LSU was going to run away with the game at the start.
The Tigers scored the game’s first 12 points while knocking down four of their first six field goal attempts. A long jumper from sophomore forward Brian Bridgewater gave LSU a 20-7 lead, its largest of the first half.
The shorthanded Gators battled back, erupting on a 13-0 run of their own to knot the game at 26 with 2:09 left before the break.
With the game tied, Martin threw down a between-the-legs dunk to retake the lead and energize the 9,203 on hand at the PMAC.
“I wanted to give our fans something to cheer for. They have been coming out and supporting us all year and I wanted to give them something to get loud for.”
Patterson threw an alley-oop to sophomore guard Tim Quarterman on the next possession, putting the Tigers back up by four. Martin ended the first half with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from deep that gave LSU a 33-26 at the break.