The LSU men’s basketball team has had little trouble building late leads in Southeastern Conference play, but maintaining them has been an entirely different story.
But that wasn’t the case Tuesday against a now-reeling Florida squad.
LSU sophomore forward Jarell Martin led the way with a game-high 22 points, and the Tigers (14-4, 3-2 SEC) avoided another late-game collapse by closing out the Gators, 79-61, in the O’Connell Center.
The victory snapped LSU’s six-game losing streak to Florida and was also the Tigers’ first win in the O’Connell Center since Feb. 13, 2008. The Gators (10-8, 3-2 SEC), who lost to Georgia on Saturday, have dropped consecutive SEC games for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
The Tigers’ victory against Florida was the first in four tries for LSU coach Johnny Jones. During his postgame radio show, Jones said he was proud of his team’s performance, particularly in the second half, against a club that reached the Final Four last season.
“We knew we were in for a tough task [Tuesday], but I thought our guys really stepped up and played well,” Jones said. “It was going to be important for us in the second half to make sure that we rebounded and defended extremely hard, and I thought we were able to do that down the stretch.”
Sophomore forward Jordan Mickey picked up his 10th double-double of the season with 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Tigers, who shot 62 percent from beyond the arc and a near-perfect 17-for-18 (94 percent) from the foul line.
With LSU junior guard Josh Gray struggling to run the offense, sophomore guard Tim Quarterman assumed most of the point guard duties and responded with 15 points and eight assists. Junior guard Keith Hornsby chipped in another 15 while going 3-for-6 from 3-point range.
Florida junior forwards Dorian Finney-Smith and Alex Murphy led the Gators with 10 points apiece, but Finney-Smith shot a cold 4-for-13 from the field.
Florida held the advantage in paint points (34-30), bench scoring (30-21) and had three fewer turnovers than the Tigers. But a 3-for-16 mark from 3-point range and 38-percent display from the field doomed the Gators, who suffered their largest defeat to LSU since a 34-point rout in 1993.
“I thought we did a great job of staying connected [on defense],” Jones said. “We had to make sure that there was attention to detail, especially on [Florida’s] shooters, and make sure that we stayed down on their drivers.”
But the Tigers’ performance on defense was slightly overshadowed by their offensive efficiency, especially given the team’s recent second-half struggles.
After going 1-for-13 from 3-point range in the second half during Saturday’s loss to Texas A&M, the Tigers stuck to their strengths against Florida.
LSU didn’t attempt a 3-pointer in the second half until 11:45 remained on the clock and had only five such shots after the break. In the second half, the Tigers continuously attacked the rim, racking up 16 inside and getting to the free throw line 14 times.
Quarterman’s 3-pointer gave LSU a 71-56 lead with 4:31 remaining in the contest. Florida responded with a 5-0 spurt to trim its deficit to 10 with just more than three minutes remaining.
But unlike their previous four SEC matches, the Tigers were able to close out the Gators by scoring eight straight points to close the game. Over the final 2:28, LSU hit all four of its free throws while Hornsby and Mickey each hit a jumper to secure the much-needed road win.
“[Florida] did a great job of continuing to fight and competing,” Jones said. “They cut the lead back to 10, but I thought our guys did a great job of closing it out.”
You can reach David Gray on Twitter @dgray_TDR.