LSU basketball may be on a high after a heart attack-inducing overtime victory against Auburn on Tuesday, but the Tigers (12-6, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) are back to reality as they prepare to hit the road to take on No. 17 Florida.
The Gators (14-4, 2-1 SEC) have won 15 consecutive contests on their home court, dating back to last spring.
“It’s going to be a war,” said LSU sophomore guard Ralston Turner. “It’s tough to always win in somebody else’s backyard. We just have to be ready for whatever.”
Freshman guard Anthony Hickey said the key to performing well on the road is as simple as “playing with confidence and having fun.”
“When things go bad, we’ve just got to start keeping our heads up,” he said.
If winning in a hostile environment wasn’t a tough enough task for the Tigers, they’ll have their hands full with the SEC’s top scoring offense, which averages 82 points per game.
Florida enters the game with all five of their starters averaging double figures in scoring.
Hickey said the team that executes the best defense will emerge victorious.
“We’ve just got to try to limit them and keep them under 50 like we tried with other teams,” he said.
LSU sophomore guard Andre Stringer said the Tigers will have to prevent the three-point shot from Florida’s guards.
“We can’t give them easy shots,” he said. “We have to get back. Those guys like to get out and run.”
The Gators lead the SEC in three-point field goal percentage at 41 percent. Florida has hit 39 more triples than the next-closest team, No. 2 Kentucky.
Florida’s lone conference loss came on a night when it converted only 31 percent of its three-pointers, falling to Tennessee, 67-56.
Florida has three players ranked No. 2 in the SEC in points per game, assists per game and field goal percentage.
“It’s not like you’re sprinting out to a guy who’s a catch-and-shoot guy,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “They all can put it on the floor and break you down at the point of attack. It’s hard.”
LSU ranks second in the SEC in steals, with eight steals per game, but the Tigers will have their hands full against the Gators, who post the conference’s best assist to turnover ratio.
Stringer said LSU will have to step up its pressure even more Saturday.
“I just try to make it as uncomfortable as I can,” he said. “I know what I don’t like guys to do to me on the offensive end, so I just try to do those things on defense.”
Adding to LSU’s struggles, the injury bug continues to plague the Tigers.
Turner, who took an elbow above the eye in the second half of the Auburn game, has been wearing a bandage on his eyebrow since the incident but will play on Saturday.
LSU freshman forward Johnny O’Bryant III’s chances of playing are still questionable, as he is recovering from a broken bone in his hand, but Johnson said they would like to use him if possible.
“If the doctors and everybody in medical says he can go, then I’ll ask Johnny,” Johnson said. “He’s probably going to have to play with a little pain.”
 
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Contact Albert Burford at [email protected]