Gators head to Baton Rouge for matchup with LSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators men’s basketball team (8-7, 1-2 SEC) is back on the road Tuesday night take on the LSU Tigers (12-3, 1-2 SEC) in Baton Rouge.

The Gators fell to the Tigers a season ago by just 6 points, and the Tigers lead the all-time series 66-50. However, this is a new-look LSU team built by first-year head coach Matt McMahon, who came over from Murray State following last season.

UF head coach Todd Golden and McMahon faced off once before in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. McMahon’s team edged Golden’s San Franciso Dons in the back-and-forth overtime game.

It’ll be the first trip to Baton Rouge for the Gators since January 2020, and a win is of the utmost importance on Tuesday night.

“We know these guys pretty well,” Todd Golden said Tuesday. “Matt runs good stuff. They’re always going to have good actions with their shooters and they’re going to find ways to take advantage of having a guy like KJ (Williams) who can shoot it from the frontcourt position.

“We got to be mindful of that. He’s a good coach and they’re a good team. It’s a good opportunity for us. I feel like we match up well against them, and it should be a good opportunity for us to go on the road and see what we got.”

LSU’s players to watch

When McMahon took the LSU job, he essentially had to start from scratch with his roster. So he went to the transfer portal for help.

Naturally, he pulled his three best players from Murray State including KJ Williams, Trae Hannibal and Justice Hill.

Williams leads the way with a team-high average 18.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 0.9 blocks. He can also shoot from deep and is shooting just under 50 percent from downtown.

“We know he’s gonna get his buckets,” Will Richard said of Williams. “Just making it as hard as possible for him. He’s a really good scorer; he can score inside and out so just making it tough for him every possession.”

Hill will often find himself running the floor for the Tigers and averages a team-best 3.5 assists per game.

Another big pickup for LSU in the transfer portal this offseason was Adam Miller from Illinois. The true sophomore is scoring 13.3 points per game and has taken his game to a new level with McMahon and his staff.

UF’s keys to the game

Paging Colin Castleton once again. The Gators finally got it going against Georgia, and Castleton was responsible for plenty of it.

On Tuesday, he will have his hands full with Coleman. The battle amongst the two bigs underneath the rim will be a deciding factor for the outcome of this game.

Again, Florida has the advantage when it comes to adjusted tempo. The Gators are tabbed at No. 41 in the country compared to LSU who is No. 207.

Getting consistent scoring throughout the lineup like UF did against Georgia is going to be important on Tuesday and throughout the rest of the SEC slate.

“We’re shooting 56.5 percent from 2 in our three league games, and we’re holding teams to 41% from 2 in our three league games,” Golden said. “That’s almost been a great indicator of a really good team. So if we’re able to protect the rim like we have and put pressure on teams like we have and start making a few more shots like we did the other night, I think we can get hot and go on a little run.”

Another storyline to keep an eye on is Alex Fudge making his return to Baton Rouge for the first time since transferring from the Tigers following last season.

The LSU game will be the beginning to the second half of Florida’s schedule.

Stay tuned to Gators Online.

WHO: Florida Gators (8-7, 1-2 SEC) at LSU Tigers (12-3, 1-2 SEC)

WHEN: Tuesday, January 10, 7 p.m. ET

WHERE: Pete Maravich Assembly Center

WATCH: SEC Network or ESPN App; Play-by-Play: Mike Morgan; Color: Daymeon Fishback

RADIO: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD (SiriusXM 385, SXM App 975); Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley; Analyst: Lee Humphrey

BETTING LINES: UF (-1.5); Over/Under: 137.5