GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After just missing a chance to pull one of the bigger upsets of the season on Saturday after holding No. 7 Tennessee 40 points under its scoring average with just 47 points, the LSU Tigers travel here Wednesday night hoping that some of those same defensive plans can be used against the high-flying Florida Gators.
LSU fell to Tennessee, 47-45, Saturday in Baton Rouge, as the Volunteers created points off an LSU turnover into a winning layup in the final 15 seconds of the game. LSU has trailed by 12 points with 16 minutes to play but held the Volunteers to just 10 points in the final three-quarters of the second half in the first game for LSU Interim Head Coach Butch Pierre.
“We played hard against Tennessee and had a couple of opportunities at the end to win the game. I think our kids might have been physically and mentally drained. We were fortunate to be in that situation against one of the best teams in the country. Hopefully we will continue to improve and do something towards the end of this stretch in the SEC,” Pierre said.
Now the Tigers must regroup and take on the Gators in the O’Connell Center Wednesday night at 7 p.m. CST (8 p.m. EST) in a game regionally televised by Raycom Sports (WAFB-Channel 9 in Baton Rouge). The radio broadcast will be available on the LSU Sports Radio Network and in the “GeauxZone” at LSUsports.net.
Florida got back on the winning track with a 77-67 win at the O’Connell Center against Georgia on Saturday and the Gators (19-5, 6-3) will be going for a 10th consecutive 20-win season. A win on Wednesday would mark the fourth earliest date in team history that Florida has gotten to 20 wins.
While LSU (8-14, 1-7) is struggling this season, Saturday’s game showed some of the defensive effort that has been missing at times with this team. Last season, that defensive effort showed up in Baton Rouge as the Tigers, playing without star Glen Davis, upset the third-ranked Gators, 66-56, as Florida was held to just 11 percent from three-point range.
LSU’s Marcus Thornton continues to lead the conference in scoring at 19.5 points per game despite having his string of consecutive 20-point scoring games stopped at six. However, he has nine straight games in double figures. Anthony Randolph had his 11-game double figure scoring streak snapped against Tennessee but still ranks third in the league in rebound average at 8.5 a game.
The team practiced Monday and Tuesday in Baton Rouge before leaving for Gainesville and Pierre feels that the team is ready to bounce back and play a quality opponent again.
“I told them after the game we don’t need any moral victories because we have had those before,” the 11-year member of the LSU staff said. “What we have to do is handle this adversity and get something positive out of each game we play. Hopefully we can continue to play relentlessly and hard. I think their attitude has been good considering the 48 hours prior to the Tennessee game they were under a lot of stress and the way they responded was fantastic.”
The Tigers, after the contest at Florida, return home for a noon game Saturday against the University of Kentucky.