LSU basketball's comeback bid, buzzer beater fall short against Florida on Tuesday

mikey dilullo, lafayette daily advertiser

Wed, Feb 14, 2024, 4:13 AM·2 min read

LSU basketball (12-12, 4-7 SEC) continued the hardest stretch of its schedule on Tuesday as the Tigers traveled to Gainesville to face the Florida Gators (17-7, 7-4).

As has been the case for many LSU basketball games this season, the Tigers fell into a large deficit — trailing by 14 points at the half and by as much as 20 with less than 16 minutes to go. But as LSU has shown throughout the season, it battled back.

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The Tigers cut the deficit to single digits eight minutes later, and with less than a minute remaining, tied the score. After after resorting to fouling and forcing the Gators to make free throws, LSU found itself trailing by two with seven seconds remaining. Senior forward Jordan Wright had an open look to tie the game, but his floater fell short as the Tigers fell, 82-80.

Defense breaks down early, rebuilds late

For most of Tuesday night, LSU couldn't keep up with Florida's offense. The Gators made 67% of their shots in the first half, leading to a season-high 48 points in the opening 20 minutes.

The roles seemed to reverse in the second half, though. The Tigers defense tightened and allowed 34% shooting from Florida while shooting 63% themselves — a season high.

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Will Baker hot in first, sits in second

Once again, Will Baker turned in an excellent performance. The redshirt senior scored 16 points, good to lead LSU for the fourth straight game. He also made three of his 3-point attempts, the second time in that four-game stretch that Baker made at least three shots from beyond the arc.

However, Baker sat for most of the second half, with the Tigers opting for a more defensive lineup with Hunter Dean at center for much of the final 20 minutes, but he fouled out forcing the Gators to shoot free throws down the stretch.

Hot from deep

Earlier this season, LSU set a program record with four straight games of at least 10 3-pointers. Back-to-back games against Tennessee and Alabama where the Tigers made six and seven from deep respectively ended that run, but in Gainesville, LSU rediscovered its shooting stroke: making 11 threes, the first time since playing Arkansas earlier this month the Tigers broke double digits.