Florida Gators at LSU Tigers
When/Where: Noon on Saturday in the PMAC | Baton Rouge
Television: CBS
Radio: WDGL-FM 98.1 (Baton Rouge)
Last Meeting: LSU shot 54.2 percent from the field and outscored Florida by 13 points in the second half en route a 79-61 victory Jan. 20 in the O’Connell Center. The win snapped the Tigers’ six-game losing streak to the Gators.
LSU’s last game: The Tigers led Texas A&M by eight points in the second half but missed their last seven field goals in the game to fall, 68-62, Tuesday night in Reed Arena. It was LSU’s fourth loss in the last six games.
Florida’s last game: The Gators played without their two leading scorers but still came away with a 50-47 win against Vanderbilt on Wednesday. The victory ended Florida’s four-game losing skid.
Florida (13-13, 6-7 Southeastern Conference)
Possible Starters and Top Reserves:
Junior [G] Eli Carter (6’2’’): 8.6 ppg, 23.7 mpg, 2.0 rpg, 37.2% FG (64-172).
Sophomore [G] Kasey Hill (6’1’’): 7.2 ppg, 29.5 mpg, 4.4 apg, 36.4% FG (67-184).
Graduate transfer [C] Jon Horford (6’10’’): 6.1 ppg, 19.5 mpg, 4.7 rpg, 46.6% FG (55-118).
Freshman [F] Devin Robinson (6’8’’): 5.9 ppg, 18.1 mpg, 2.7 rpg, 38.9% FG (58-149).
Sophomore [F] Chris Walker (6’10’’): 5.1 ppg, 15.1 mpg, 3.7 rpg, 53% FG (53-100).
Junior [F] Alex Murphy (6’8’’): 5.1 ppg, 13.8 mpg, 2.0 rpg, 49.2% FG (30-61).
Senior [F] Jacob Kurtz (6’6’’): 4.2 ppg, 20.0 mpg, 3.9 rpg, 58.7% FG (44-75).
Freshman [G] Chris Chiozza (6’0’’): 4.0 ppg, 22.4 mpg, 2.0 apg, 32.1% 3-point FG (17-53).
LSU (18-8, 7-6 SEC)
Possible Starters and Top Reserves:
Sophomore [G] Tim Quarterman (6’6’’): 11.8 ppg, 33.0 mpg, 5.2 rpg, 3.6 apg, 42.9% FG (102-238).
Freshman [G] Jalyn Patterson (6’0’’): 5.8 ppg, 21.7 mpg, 1.1 spg, 35.6 % 3-point FG (26-73).
Junior [G] Keith Hornsby (6’4’’): 12.7 ppg, 35.3 mpg, 4.3 rpg, 37.3% 3-point FG (53-142).
Sophomore [F] Jarell Martin (6’10’’): 15.8 ppg, 34.2 mpg, 8.8 rpg, 50% FG (150-300).
Sophomore [F] Jordan Mickey (6’8’’): 16.7 ppg, 35.4 mpg, 10.6 rpg, 3.7 bpg, 52.2% FG (166-318).
Junior [G] Josh Gray (6’1’’): 8.1 ppg, 27.2 mpg, 4.1 apg, 40.4% FG (74-183).
Sophomore [F] Darcy Malone (7’0’’): 1.1 ppg, 9.4 mpg, 1.4 rpg, 43.8% FG (7-16).
Sophomore [F] Brian Bridgewater (6’5’’): 2.5 ppg, 6.6 mpg, 1.0 rpg, 56.8% FG (25-44).
Three Things to Watch for
Short-handed Florida
If the Gators hope to avenge their loss to LSU earlier this season, they’ll have to do it without their two leading scorers — junior guard Michael Frazier III and junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith.
Frazier has missed the last three games with a high ankle sprain, and Finney-Smith sat out Florida’s win against Vanderbilt after being suspended indefinitely for team violations earlier in the week.
The guard-forward tandem has been one of the SEC’s top-scoring duos this season. Together, Frazier and Finney-Smith average 26.1 points per game.
Frazier is also the Gators’ threat from 3-point range. The 6-foot-4 guard is shooting 40.1 percent from 3-point territory, which ranks third in the SEC.
Despite playing without their top scoring threats, the Gators eked out a three-point victory against Vanderbilt to snap a four-game losing streak. Forwards Devin Robinson and Alex Murphy scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, in the win.
Avoiding foul trouble
Foul trouble has plagued LSU sophomore forward Jarell Martin lately.
Martin fouled out of the Tigers’ loss to Texas A&M on Tuesday, giving him nine fouls in the last two games. It was the fourth time Martin has fouled out this season. 
The heavy foul trouble limited Martin — who is LSU’s second-leading scorer (15.8 ppg) and rebounder (8.8 rpg) — to 23 minutes against Tennessee last Saturday and 24 minutes against the Aggies, well below his SEC-average of 34.5 minutes per game.
With Martin on the bench, the Tigers weren’t able to properly utilize their All-SEC forward tandem of Martin and sophomore forward Jordan Mickey against, the Aggies, who outscored LSU in the paint by 14 points (36-22) on Tuesday.
But not only has Martin’s absence limited the Tigers on offense, it’s hurt them on the boards. Texas A&M outrebounded LSU, 38-31. With Martin riding the pine, the Aggies doubled the Tigers’ effort on the offensive glass (14-7) and scored 18 second-chance points.
Because of the foul trouble, Martin has brought down 11 boards in the last two games, his fewest in a two-game stretch this season.
3-pointers aren’t always best
LSU has lost six SEC games this season, and a common theme in all of them — except the loss to No. 1 Kentucky — has been the Tigers’ over-reliance on 3-pointers in the second half.
LSU has shot less than 19 percent (11-of-58) from 3-point range in the second half of its six conference losses this season. In five of the six second halves, the Tigers attempted at least eight shots from beyond the arc and never made more than three.
When the Tigers hoist shots from 3-point territory at a high rate, they typically haven’t had much success.
LSU is 6-6 when it attempts more than 15 3-pointers this season. Three of those losses were against Missouri, Mississippi State and Auburn — three of the SEC’s bottom four teams. But when the Tigers shoot 15 3-pointers or less, they’re 12-2.
Less was more for LSU in its first meeting with the Gators Jan. 20. The Tigers went 8-for-13 from beyond the arc before rolling to an 18-point road victory.