Gators Produce Hard-Fought Victory Over LSU on the Road, 67-56
Two straight victories.
The Florida Gators played to their defensive identity on the road in Baton Rouge to steal a valuable victory over the LSU Tigers on Tuesday night, 67-56. The contest marks Todd Golden's first road SEC win.
Colin Castleton and Kowacie Reeves Jr. led Gators scorers with 18 and 11 points, respectively. However, Florida's eight blocks, 10 steals, 15 forced turnovers and 23 points off turnovers proved to be the difference in the contest.
The tide turned in the Gators' favor nearly midway through the second half as Florida began to find its groove on the offensive end by turning defensive excellence in open looks.
The surge began with a four-point swing where LSU forward Derek Fountain took the ball from Castleton's grasp at the top of the key. Looking to have an easy transition bucket to extend the Tigers' lead, Fountain started to get out in transition behind the Gators' defense before Myreon Jones pickpocketed the LSU big man to regain control of possession.
Florida used that steal to turn a would-be Tigers basket into two points in the other direction to tie the contest.
A few possessions later, Jones added to the flurry of Florida's run as he found himself on the receiving end of a transition sequence. Riley Kugel pushed the rock into the heart of the Tigers' defense and kicked it to the corner where Jones stood. He knocked down his second triple of the game — a promising emergence for the Gators this season after struggling as a shooter for the entirety of his UF career.
That gave Florida a 41-36 lead, its largest margin of the game to that point.
The Gators pushed their lead up to eight with 10:20 remaining (48-40) and 11 with just under three minutes left (60-49). While the Tigers attempted to claw back, Florida continued defensive pressure made it an arduous task for LSU to earn the tough buckets it needed to execute the late comeback.
UF kept McMahon's squad at arm's length throughout the remainder of the contest to hold onto that 11-point margin of victory.
LSU forward KJ Williams did his part to keep the Tigers within striking distance, posting a game-high 23 points, but it ultimately didn't matter as they went 32.3% from the field as a unit. In addition, the Tigers' reliance on shots from the perimeter and lack of presence in the paint plagued LSU from taking control of the game as Florida struggled to post points in the first half.
That fact also appeared in the form of free throw attempts, with Florida dominating the contest from the charity stripe, knocking down 24 of its 32 attempts on the night compared to 13-for-16 from LSU.
Gators guard Kyle Lofton continued to shine as he's shown significant progression of late, producing eight points on 75% from the field and two rebounds with big-time contributions at crucial moments in the contest.
The Gators will return home on Saturday to take on the No. 20 Missouri Tigers with an opportunity to go above .500 in SEC play for the first time this season and stretch their win streak to three.
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