Gators rally on Senior Night to beat LSU, sweep season series

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Gators won their second straight game Saturday on Senior Night against LSU, rallying in the second half for a 79-67 victory behind the performances of Riley Kugel and Will Richard.

The Tigers pulled ahead in the final minute of the first period and stretched their advantage to 12 less than five minutes after the break. From that point, however, Florida went on a 16-5 run to cut the deficit to one and outscored LSU 47-23 over the final 15:31.

With 7:29 left to play, Kowacie Reeves’ steal and breakaway dunk gave UF its first lead since the 6:50 mark of the first half. The Gators went up by as many as 14 down the stretch with big shots from Kugel, Richard and Kyle Lofton, all of whom scored in double figures.

“You don’t come back and win a game like this without multiple really good efforts,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “I thought across the board, obviously Riley played great again tonight. Will was fantastic with 18 points, scoring it really well and really efficiently. I thought Jason [Jitoboh] gave us really good minutes inside as well.”

Kugel led the Gators with 21 points, marking his third 20-point performance in the last four games. The true freshman has scored in double digits for eight straight SEC contests and is averaging 18.3 points during that span.

Kugel’s double-figure stretch in league play marks the longest such streak by a Florida freshman since Bradley Beal (10, 2011-12). He scored 17 in the second half, including a run where he had 11 of UF’s 13 points.

“The first half I was too lackadaisical,” Kugel said. “A couple of coaches came up to me and said pick it up. In the second half I came in and I know how to switch modes. Attack the defensive side and the offense will start flowing for me. That’s really what I did.”

Coming off his career-high 24 points at Georgia, Richard dropped 18 against the Tigers with a team-high six rebounds and Lofton logged 16 points, a team-high five assists and five rebounds. Saturday marked Florida’s only SEC game this season where three of its players had 15 points or more.

Jitoboh, Lofton and Colin Castleton participated in the Senior Night ceremony prior to tip. The Gators have now reeled off back-to-back wins after losing their first three contests without Castleton, who’s out with a broken hand. It was also the final home game for seniors CJ Felder and Myreon Jones.

“It shows our resiliency and being able to stick together and attack every day knowing we are short a few people, knowing that we have to come together,” Richard said of handling Castleton’s injury and winning two straight to close out the season. “It was definitely a big adjustment for us because he does so much for us. But after the time we’ve had without him, I definitely think we are more comfortable.”

With the win over the Tigers, Florida earned a two-game regular season sweep over LSU for the first time since the 1986-87 season and fourth time in program history. The teams had split the last three two-game regular season series.

The Gators (16-15, 9-9) finish the regular season eighth in the SEC standings under first-year coach Todd Golden and avoid a losing record for the first time since Billy Donovan’s last season in 2014-15.

Florida heads to Nashville next for the SEC Tournament, which begins Wednesday and runs through March 12. UF will be the first game of the day on Thursday against Mississippi State at 1 p.m. ET.

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