Southeastern Conference rivals Florida and LSU both reached the Final Four two seasons ago, but since then the two programs have gone in drastically different directions.
The Tigers (8-14, 1-7) were run out of the Final Four by UCLA, 59-45, and suffered a disappointing follow-up season. The Gators (19-5, 6-3) won the national championship in 2006 and then repeated the feat this past season.
The trend has continued this season with LSU in last place in the SEC while Florida has the conference’s third-best record despite losing its top six scorers from a year ago. But that does not mean the Tigers will not have a chance to claw out a win in Gainesville, Fla., at 7 p.m.
The Tigers, who have 35 fewer wins than the Gators the past five seasons, have won four of seven games against Florida during that span.
That span includes the Tigers’ shocking 66-56 upset Feb. 24 of then-No. 3 Florida.
LSU almost pulled off another surprising upset of a top-10 team this past weekend until then-No. 7 Tennessee scraped out the 47-45 victory.
Florida coach Billy Donovan expects a similar challenge from the Tigers.
“I’m really impressed by the way [LSU] played against Tennessee at home,” Donovan said. “I certainly expect them to play with the same level of intensity and effort and execution against us.”
LSU junior guard Garrett Temple is one of four Tigers remaining from the Final Four team, but the only Tiger to play significant time during the Final Four season who will play tonight.
“There’s so many more new guys than it was last year or the year before that,” Temple said. “But it’s going to be a pretty intense game.”
Sophomore guard Alex Farrer was redshirted during the tournament run, and junior center Chris Johnson saw little playing time. Junior forward Tasmin Mitchell, who played significant time in 2006, is receiving a medical redshirt this season.
Junior guard Walter Hodge is the only remaining member of the Gators’ first championship team.
Temple said the coaching staff has shown the younger players tape of 2007’s game to give them confidence against Florida.
“Coach has shown Bo Spencer, Anthony Randolph and Marcus Thornton a tape of Florida, so those newcomers do know what it takes to play against a team the caliber of Florida and what it takes to win,” Temple said.
Randolph, who said he was at that game, said facing Florida sophomore forward/center Marreese Speights will be a welcomed challenge.
“He’s a great player, a great rebounder,” Randolph said. “It will be a great way for me to get better and learn from him playing against him.”
Randolph and Speights are third and fifth in the SEC in rebounding, averaging 8.5 and 7.9 rebounds per game respectively. But freshman guard/forward Nick Calathes may be a bigger concern for the Tigers.
Calathes leads the SEC with 6.2 assists per game. He also leads Florida with 15.4 points per game, and his five rebounds per game are third on the team.
—-Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected]