BATON ROUGE – The LSU Tigers put nationally-ranked Florida on the defensive in the second half with one of their best 20 minutes of basketball in conference play, before falling 68-61 Sunday at the Maravich Center.
The Tigers are now 10-17 and 2-10 in the league, while Florida (15th in ESPN Coaches Poll, 14th in AP) is now 21-5 and on top of the Eastern Division at 10-2.
It was pretty much all Florida in the first 20 minutes as the Gators shot 59.4 percent, mostly from inside, to gain a 40-25 advantage with 26 of the Gator points coming in the paint.
Still down 15 with 12:56 to play, 51-36, the Tigers showed some bite and sparked their die-hard fans to make some noise as LSU eventually cut the lead to six on two occasions in the final four minutes but could get no closer.
Ralston Turner led LSU with 18 points, his fourth straight double figure scoring game. LSU shot 51.9 percent overall and 4-of-8 from the arc in the second half, holding Florida to just 26.1 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes.
Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton each scored 17 points and Vernon Macklin 16 as Florida moved back into a tie for the overall SEC lead. The Gators are in a tie with Alabama with two weeks remaning in the regular season.
Walker made three 3-pointers and all four of his free throw attempts. Boynton was 5 of 12 from the field and made six of his seven foul shots. Starting forward Chandler Parsons did not play in the game because of a deep thigh bruise.
Two scoring spurts enabled Florida to take a 15-point halftime lead. Ahead 9-8 lead, the Gators ran off 10 consecutive points. LSU pulled within 21-16 after a 3-pointer by Aaron Dotson. Florida then outscored the Tigers 11-3 over a 5-minute span.
LSU reduced its deficit to 42-34 as Turner knocked down a 3-pointer and made two of three free throws after being fouled on another 3-point attempt.
The Gators stopped the Tigers’ run with six straight points. Walker connected on a 3-pointer, Macklin made one free throw and Boynton added two more. LSU made one last run at Florida inside the 9-minute mark.
A three-point play by Macklin put the Gators in front 58-46 with 9:01 remaining. The Tigers held Florida scoreless for almost 6 minutes. Matt Derenbecker hit a 3-pointer and Garrett Green made one of two free throws. A jumper by Turner left LSU behind 58-52.
Florida’s scoring drought ended when Boynton made a layup after a steal by Macklin. The Tigers got within 60-54 on a basket by Daron Populist, but the Gators made six consecutive free throws — four by Walker — in the last 2 minutes.
LSU travels to Starkville on Wednesday night for an 8 p.m. game at Mississippi State.
LSU HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON
Opening Statement…
“Well, Florida is pretty good. I thought the first half, 40-25, was much more about what they were doing than about what we couldn’t do. They score in the post. They score in the perimeter. We went into the game trying to take (Vernon) Macklin’s left shoulder away and (Alex) Tyus’s left shoulder and post move away. Obviously, if you try to cover down (Kenny) Boynton and (Erving) Walker they’re a handful. We picked our poison and they got into a pretty good rhythm. We tried to adjust into a zone, and they got into a better rhythm with the zone. The second half, I felt we showed very good courage and competitiveness. Thirty-six to 28 second half, but again it’s the same old story. Sixty-eight to 61, but that is why that is probably as good we can play at this point in time during the year. This is a basketball team in Florida playing for a lot. They’re playing for a seed. Again, we had opportunities to get this thing cut down a little bit. I didn’t think they were going to tighten up because Walker and Boynton have been playing for a long time.”
On Florida and the game…
“We talked about when they fed the post from the perimeter on the wing and they cut that wing through, which is basically anybody with the exception of Walker and Boynton, we tried to double down on the post. But again, we’re talking about a team that is very skilled. I think more than anything they had a couple of ill forced turnovers that led to us having baskets. I thought Ralston (Turner) was huge. I thought he made some huge plays for us playing with aggressiveness against a very good team and good players. They put Boynton and they put Walker on him. Billy (Donovan) has a good team and obviously he’s not a good coach, he’s a great coach. I have a lot of respect because he’s done it in a way in this league where he’s been very consistently good for a long time. He’s done it with juniors, seniors, sophomores and freshman. There is that tradition of consistency there. I remember watching those really good teams when they went back-to-back. A lot of those guys weren’t two or one and dones. I have a lot of respect for him as a coach. He’s one of the best in this business make no mistake about it. They don’t beat themselves. Like I said, I wish there were some things we could have done better. For a noon game, I thought our fan support was great. I thought for the first time we gave them something to cheer about.”
On the positives from the second half…
“We’ve continued for the past five out of six (games) to put ourselves in that situation (where LSU had a chance to win). It’s a good teaching tool if you can come back, get into that situation again and get over the hump. I’m not into false confidence. I’m not into moral victories. We have to continue to put ourselves in a situation that we can push ourselves over the hump.”
LSU Basketball vs. Florida
February 20, 2011
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On the team’s mindset at halftime …
“Every game we are in we feel like we have a chance to win at halftime. Even when we were down by 18 to Arkansas. We always feel that if we can get down to 10 points that we can go from there. In that game, we didn’t come out and fight. In this game, everyone is getting tired of losing, and getting tired of being blown out. We came out in the second half with the intensity that I wish we would’ve had at the beginning of the game because it would have been a completely different game against Florida. They are the best team in the SEC, and to come back like that shows a lot on our part. I think it really shows a lot that we need to work on for the beginning of the game instead of just picking it up at the end.”
On trying to catch Florida at the end …
“We were looking for a couple of whistles to go our way, but you can’t always control that. It comes down to the fact that we had to stay focused on the goal, which was to win. There wasn’t a six-point play, an eight-point play or a ten-point play. Coach Johnson always stresses to worry about the next possession, and not the score. Just getting back into it. They (Florida) knocked down the free throws. There were a couple of rebounds that we gave up on the defensive end when we went into the zone. Us guards need to get in there when the big men are fighting for it, and clean up everything that hits the ground. We had a strong second half, and we were in it to win it with four minutes left. The ball just didn’t bounce our way.”
On adjustments made in the second half …
“When we came out of the first half, Coach Johnson decided to make some adjustments for the second half. We played different defensively, and did a couple of different things offensively. It was some x’s and o’s, but it was mainly him stressing that we had been in this position before. The game wasn’t over, and they were going to give us a chance to get back into it. He was keeping our confidence up, and knew in the back of his mind that we had it in us. If anyone wants to question that, the second half proves that.”
On the rest of the season …
“Hopefully we can take the momentum we had in the second half and have some of it carry over. We had great practices during the week. Probably the best we’ve had all year. We just need to carry that over into the games, and we will be fine. You just never know what will happen late in the SEC tournament.
On stopping Florida on the inside …
“We tip our hats to those guys because they played a pretty good game … The problem is in the back of our mind that we always get those fouls. I was more worried about staying on the floor and keeping my hands to myself rather than trying to be overaggressive. Sometimes I can get carried away making sure my man doesn’t get his way.”
On his mentality in the game …
“I had a few good looks at the start of the game, and they didn’t go down for me. Over the course of the first half I kind of lost my aggressiveness. At halftime, Coach Johnson told me I had to pick my aggressiveness up. Also, with those missed shots, I was trying to get something going to the rim. In the second half, I got more aggressive.”
On the team’s performance in the second half …
“We came out with a lot more aggressiveness and a lot more intensity. We had a lot with the offense going to the goal, but we have to start out the game like that. It took getting down 15 to realize that we had to keep up our intensity. On the defensive end, we started to communicate more and move around more. We started realizing where we were in those situations, and that’s what helped us stay in the game.”
Florida Head coach Billy Donovan
On the difference in halves …
“I just felt like it was going to be important to go inside and try to establish Vernon Macklin, and I think we got him some touches and they elected not to double him and they played him head-up in the post. We really talked a lot about the last three days – LSU does a great job of what we call “walling” where they climb up under you. You go up to shoot and they kind of walk under you and make a shot that is normally a 3-4 foot jump-hook a 7-8 shot as they move into you. I thought Vernon established a low-base early where he was able to not get pushed off his post move and he established himself. In the second half, he had lots of fumbled balls because LSU was getting more into his legs and he did not do a good enough job in the second half. We got the ball inside, though, which was good. I thought we got the ball inside early in the second half, we just didn’t finish some plays as well as we did in the first half.:
On the press …
“I just feel like we are a better pressing team when Kacie is out there with his athleticism and his length. We just felt like we wanted to utilize him and Will and Scottie. They are pretty good pressing guys. Knowing that we would not have to play those guys more minutes, I thought that if we could get the game going up and down, it may take some pressure off those guys being young guys on the road.”
Florida center Vernon Macklin
On handling success …
“It really is not much about the rankings. It is really about like Coach Donovan says – worrying about us and not worrying about the guys we are playing. We just have to keep playing and practicing hard and let our practice carry over to our games and I think we will be fine from here on out.”
On second chance opportunities …
“We just wanted to crash the boards pretty hard. I know where Alex Tyus’s shot is coming from and he knows where my shot is coming from, so we just wanted to crash the boards when some of our other players took shoots or when Kenny Boyntin and Erving Walker took threes. We just tried to get to the rim stronger than LSU because they have a strong, physical front-line.”
On the rebounding against the zone
“It is pretty tough. We use rotational block outs in the zone. It is tough to block out when there are shots coming from everywhere and guys are playing an area and not playing a man.”
Florida guard Kenny Boynton
On the offensive performance …
“I think we had a great first half. From the inside-out, we played great. I think we lost that in the second half and the difference was they hit shots in the second half. When they went into the zone, we went into a pretty long draught.”
On why the team used full-court pressure …
“I am not exactly sure why, but I think it is because we came out playing with three guards. I think Coach Donovan wanted us to try to force turnovers. So, since we were using such a small lineup, we wanted to use the press.”