GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The LSU men’s basketball team, off an overtime win over Auburn on Tuesday night, begins its second set of back-to-back road games in an 11-day period when it travels here Saturday to face the nationally-ranked Florida Gators in the O’Connell Center.
The Tigers are 12-6 and 2-2 in the SEC, while Florida is 14-4 and 2-1 in the league. The Tigers are in a five-way tie for fourth, while the Gators are in third, a game and a half back of league leaders Kentucky and Vanderbilt, both 4-0. Florida is ranked 14th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 17 in the Associated Press poll.
Game time is 6 p.m. EST (5 p.m. Baton Rouge time) with the game to be regionally televised by FSN. ESPN3 will have the game available outside the SEC footprint. The radio broadcast of the game will be available on the LSU Sports Radio Network (New Country 100.7 FM The Tiger in Baton Rouge) and in the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net.
The game is a matchup of contrasting styles, a team in Florida that would like to push the ball and averages well over 82 points per game; and, a team in LSU that has held 12 opponents under 60 this season, winning 11 of those games.
“We are really going to have to do a good job, first and foremost, of getting back [defensively] and limiting transition baskets,” said LSU Coach Trent Johnson. “I can go down the line and talk about who we are playing (Erving) Walker, (Kenny) Boynton, (Bradley) Beal and (Mike) Rosario. All those guys are capable. Again, Billy’s (Donovan) got a nice basketball team … Again it is going to be a, like most league games, it is going to be a big challenge.”
The Tigers are coming off a 65-58 overtime win over Auburn Tuesday night at the Maravich Center, a game in which LSU had a 13-point lead with five minutes to go in the first half. But Auburn found its range and turned the game completely around, building an eight-point advantage of their own with 11:32 to play.
But LSU ran off 10 straight points to take the lead back and only a desperation three pointer with two-tenths of a second left in regulation by Auburn put the game in overtime. But Justin Hamilton, Andre Stringer and Anthony Hickey led a final charge, outscoring Auburn 9-2, for the final margin.
Hickey had one of his best LSU games with 18 points, seven rebounds, six assists and just one turnover in 39 minutes of play. Hamilton had 13 points, Ralston Turner 11 and Storm Warren 10. Stringer scored just three-points, but his trey in the final 75 seconds of overtime proved to be more than Auburn could overcome.
All five Florida starters average in double figures led by Boynton at 18.7 a game, Beal averaged 14.3 points per game, Walker averaged 12.9 points and 5.0 assists with Patrick Young at 11.4 points per game and Erik Murphy at 10.3 a contest.
“Florida, in the goodness of guard play, is exceptional, but probably when you take a look at their basketball team, they are balanced now,” said Johnson. “I think (Erik) Murphy’s improvement from last year to this year is pretty impressive. Obviously, Patric Young is strong and as athletic you get. He can really score in the post. He causes a lot of problems when he turns his left shoulder. He hits a nice 15-foot jump shot right now so the bottom line for us is we are going to have to play really, really well.”
Hamilton averaged 13.3 points per game and 7.5 rebounds after scoring in double figures each of the last five games. Stringer is averaging 10.8 points per game, while Hickey is averaging 9.6 points, 4.0 assists and a league leading 2.4 steals. Turner averaging 8.9 points and Warren 8.4 points per game.
The Tigers have a 60-39 advantage in the series with Florida, but Florida leads in games played in Gainesville, 25-18.
After Saturday’s game, LSU returns to Baton Rouge but must go back on the road Tuesday for a Wednesday game at Starkville against Mississippi State (7 p.m. SEC Network). LSU’s next home game is Saturday, Jan. 28, against Kentucky. Tickets are available for that game at LSUtix.net.
Follow LSU Basketball on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LSUBasketball and on Twitter @LSUBasketball and @LSUCoachJohnson.