Gators hang on for 82-80 win over LSU after blowing another lead

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Another blown lead at home, but another victory by Florida. The Gators saw a 20-point second-half lead against LSU erased in the game’s last two minutes Tuesday, but they held on for an 82-80 win — their second in a row in SEC play.

The Tigers pulled even with 1:33 left, but a steal by Zyon Pullin on their ensuing possession led to a Walter Clayton Jr. layup. LSU’s Jordan Wright scored to cut it back to one, but he missed an open bunny in the final seconds to send the game to overtime.

“He had enough time to have an easy layup and he missed,” UF forward Tyrese Samuel said of the last play. “We’re thankful that we came out with a W.”

Clayton led the Gators with 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting, including a one-handed poster dunk in the first half. He’s now had eight 20-point performances this season, including three in the last four games.

Clayton’s last basket off the critical steal by Pullin put Florida up by three with 20 seconds to play.

“I just saw the ball pop out, saw him get on the floor, make a good advance pass to Tyrese,” UF coach Todd Golden said. “I thought Tyrese was going to take it, but he dishes to Walt, and made a really tough contested layup that could have been an and-one, probably, and just a winning play down the stretch by a winning player.”

Pullin (14 points) and Samuel (15) also scored in double figures for Florida, while Wright and 7-footer Will Baker led the Tigers with 16 points apiece. LSU finished 52% from downtown (11-for-21) while UF shot just 24% and made a season-low four 3-pointers.

Florida did dominate the Tigers in the frontcourt, posting a plus-14 advantage on the glass (43-29), scoring 20 second-chance points and outscoring them in the paint, 46-28. Samuel, Micah Handlogten and Alex Condon combined for 20 rebounds and six blocks.

LSU switched to a zone defense and gave the Gators fits, holding them to 34% from the floor in the second half after shooting 67% in the first period.

“Teams have to go zone against us because we can score at will,” Samuel said. “We scored 50 points in a half, so zone is one of the ways they’re slowing us down right now. But we’re going to get back to the drawing board and work on it and make sure that we execute so we can get out of it.”

A 10-0 run by the Gators early in the second half pushed their lead to 60-40, but LSU cut the deficit to nine with a 12-2 stretch. Then a late 7-0 run by the Tigers tied the game as Florida went over three minutes without any points.

UF also blew late leads at home against Kentucky, Mississippi State and Georgia.

“Not pleased with the recurring theme of some of our second halves lately,” Golden said. “It’s like, ‘Damn, we’re in this situation, again?’ after building a lead. But I don’t think we were discouraged or I didn’t feel like we had lost any sort of confidence or any sort of hope.

“… Our mindset was fine. Obviously, there wasn’t elation. We weren’t happy with what had transpired, but our guys are, at this point in the season battle tested, especially in this type of situation. And, you know, we did what we needed to down the stretch.”

LSU made it a one-point game at the 11:17 mark of the first half, but the Gators stretched their lead to double digits with runs of 9-3 and 8-2. They went nearly 15 minutes without a 3-pointer, but Pullin hit their second trey before the break to give them a 48-34 lead.

Florida (17-7, 7-4 SEC) has now won six of its last seven contests, including a four-game streak to close out January, while the Tigers (12-12, 4-7 SEC) have lost six of their last seven games.

“Honestly I thought they were terrific in the first half,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said of the Gators. “We really struggled to guard them off the dribble and I thought their bigs did a nice job on the short rolls on some ball screens and hand offs. I thought they were incredibly efficient there. I thought the zone helped us get back in the game. Offensive execution was much better in the second half which then enabled us to set our zone.

“When we needed to go man there late when we made it a game, I thought our intensity and our effort was much better there to give ourselves an opportunity to win. But credit to Florida. With their offensive rebounding, there’s a reason they’re No. 2 in the country. … I think Florida’s guards are as good as anyone in the country. They’re really terrific off the bounce, they’re hard to cover, they have four really good ones.”

After back-to-back wins at home, the Gators will be on the road for their next two games. They face Georgia (14-10, 4-7 SEC) on Saturday at 1 p.m. on SEC Network and then travel to No. 15 Alabama (17-7, 9-2) next Wednesday.