Gators beaten by buzzer at LSU

The Florida Gators dropped their second SEC matchup on the season last night to the LSU Tigers 84-82 in heartbreaking fashion. The Gators now sit at 12-6 overall and 4-2 in conference play.

LSU has won games by keeping them close and has only won the last five games by a combined 13 points. The Tigers are now the only undefeated team in the SEC and are on a seven-game winning streak.

How it Happened

The Gators started the game off strong and were up by eight with under seven minutes in the first half. That lead quickly dwindled though when LSU went on a 9-0 run. Some Gator turnovers wiped out any lead that Florida had created and when the buzzer sounded for halftime, the Gators went into the locker room with only a two-point lead.

Both teams came out of halftime ready to compete. The start of the second half was back and forth with both teams answering one another. Right at the halfway point, however, LSU began to pull away and went on an 11-3 run to go up by nine.

Florida got on a hot streak late in the game though. However, it may just have been too late. With just over a minute to play, LSU was sitting pretty with a 10 point lead. After the 1:20 mark though things turned in the Gator’s favor. Florida made 3 three’s and two layups in the final minute of the game.

With just 0.5 seconds left on the clock, the Gators needed to find one more layup to send the game to overtime. At first, it seemed like they had pulled it off with a Keyontae Johnson layup, but a quick look at the monitor showed Johnson’s fingers just grazing the ball when time expired.

Every time LSU and Florida play … I N S A N I T Y.

What an ending in Baton Rouge! pic.twitter.com/jkI6zPL9ws

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 22, 2020

What Went Right

The shooting was on for the Gators last night. Four players entered double-digit points in Johnson and Noah Locke who each had 16. Andrew Nembhard and Kerry Blackshear Jr. both brought 15 to the board. Scottie Lewis wasn’t far behind the double-digit mark with 9 points of his own.

Florida shot for almost 51% for the game and had 46 second-half points. The three’s also flew in Florida’s favor as they knocked down 11 on the night.

Fire away 🎯#GatorsHoop pic.twitter.com/0DQTsdVk1Z

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) January 22, 2020

What Went Wrong

Florida started off the game well, committing very few turnovers. However, when the Tigers started to heat up, Florida got sloppy and handed the ball right over. Neither team was fantastic in the turnover department with Florida finishing with 12 and LSU finishing with 11.

LSU found the opportunities that Florida did not though and were able to capitalize on the turnovers they were presented.

When the rebounds are on then typically so is Florida. In their win against then No. 4 Auburn, the Gators had 44 total rebounds and held Auburn to just 29. Last night, Florida only found 28 rebounds to LSU’s 38.

Looking Ahead

Now the Gators have to shake off a hard loss and get ready for the weekend as a whole new challenge comes to Gainesville. No. 1 Baylor comes to town on Saturday for the SEC/BIG12 challenge. Florida will have to be ready to play hard to bring home another win against a top 5 team.