GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — LSU coach John Brady enjoyed a brisk walk around campus. Everyone else who came to watch Florida play Wednesday night saw the second-ranked Gators put on their most dominating performance of the season.
Brett Nelson equaled his career-high with 26 points to lift the Gators to a 102-70 victory, their biggest Southeastern Conference win since coach Billy Donovan arrived in 1995.
Florida (15-1, 4-0) also matched a school record with its 11th straight SEC victory and extended another school record with its 14th straight win overall.
It was a full, 40-minute effort — 17 minutes more than Brady was willing to watch. Referee Doug Shows ejected Brady when the coach refused to move away from center court moments after John Clougherty hit him with his first technical.
“I didn’t watch the game,” Brady said when asked what he did after he got tossed. “In fact, I walked outside and walked around campus. It’s a pretty campus. But it was a little chilly outside.”
Nelson wasn’t the only one setting personal bests for the Gators. Orien Greene had 14 points and 11 assists, both career-highs, and Udonis Haslem matched his career-high with 16 rebounds to go with his 20 points.
“The one thing I told the guys was to shoot the ball with freedom and confidence,” Donovan said.
Indeed they did, making 60 percent of their shots, including going 12-of-26 from 3-point range.
“I think they deserve to be the No. 1 team,” LSU forward Ronald Dupree said. “I haven’t played Duke, but I have seen them on TV. This Florida team is deep. They’re just good. They played very well tonight.”
The loss was a startling detour for LSU (11-5, 1-2), which fell behind 32-12 after 14 minutes and had as many turnovers as points (9) midway through the first half.
Before his ejection, Brady was the only form of entertainment the Tigers could offer. He yelled at players, officials, his own assistants, and at one point, got so angry, he raised his knees to his chest, put both feet on the edge of his chair and screamed in frustration.
Much of his anger was directed at LSU’s biggest star, Collis Temple III. Temple had 15 points, but they were all meaningless. The team’s leading scorer this season was invisible — both on the court and on the score sheet — until LSU trailed 58-35 with 16:06 left.
Brady said he boiled over when the Tigers didn’t execute on offense, then followed by running the wrong defense. A couple foul calls he disagreed with sent him over the edge.
“I’ve got my own thoughts about that, but I’m not going to share it with you,” Brady said of the fouls. “Because it wouldn’t do me any good. If I shared my thoughts, I’d get two or three reprimands like I did last year. So, it’s just, `Take it Coach,’ and move on.”
The Gators had too many highlights to list.
Among them were James White’s steal and hip-twisting dunk, David Lee’s two-handed jam and Haslem’s easy dunk off a pass from Nelson, who went to the floor and scrapped hard for a loose ball — even though his team was ahead by 29 points.
“Every second I’m out there, I want to give 100-percent effort,” Nelson said. “I don’t care if we’re up 27, 57 or whatever. I just play like it’s a tie game.”
It was enough to make Florida fans forget that the Gators were without starting guard Justin Hamilton, who separated his shoulder Saturday against Vanderbilt.
Donovan said Hamilton could play Saturday when the Gators face No. 20 Georgia. He said he will know more Friday.
Dupree led the Tigers with 19 points and eight rebounds.