Gators dominate LSU in the second half for 6th straight win

Tommy Haugh slams home a second half dunk against LSU (UAA Photo)

It isn’t often that within the same 40 minutes we see both the worst and the best of a team, but that was the story of 2nd-ranked Florida’s 79-65 win over LSU at the Maravich Center in Baton Rouge Saturday.

In the final 6:41 of the first half, the Gators (24-3, 11-3 SEC) blew a 14-point lead as LSU (14-13, 3-11 SEC) went on a 22-2 tear to take a 37-31 lead at the intermission. During those final minutes, the Gators launched 12 scuds with only a Denzel Aberdeen layup with 2:59 to go the only shot that found the bottom of the net. Not only was Florida’s offense in the tank, but the defense went AWOL as well. LSU outside shooters bombed away, hitting five consecutive threes.

“I think we got way too comfortable in the first half,” Tommy Haugh said. “We got that lead and thought it was going to be easy. That’s not the SEC. You get settled in, that can happen.”

Florida’s first half stats: 11-34 from the field and just 4-14 from the 3-point line. The Gators shot 10-21 in the first 13:19 of the half when they were building up a 29-15 lead. Of their final 12 misses, five came from the 3-point line.

Had Florida’s defense continued to play at a high level, the Gators could have gone into the halftime locker with a decent lead despite going into the offensive tank, but LSU got into a groove. During that 22-2 run, the Tigers went 6-9 from the field. Prior to that impressive run, LSU was 6-22 from the field and 1-9 from the 3-point line.

“They went on a 22-2 run, made some big threes, played with a lot of confidence, didn't allow us to operate very comfortably offensively, which, you know, honestly, we've been pretty good that way,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “But they held us, I think, to two points for eight minutes or whatever it was … At halftime, we had to recalibrate and make sure that we got back to defending … In the second half, I thought we imposed our will on them a little bit.”

The second half was what you expect of the 2nd-ranked team in the country. The Gators put 48 points on the scoreboard while holding LSU to 28. Florida dominated every phase of the game but it took a little more than four minutes of the second half before the Gators left the Tigers gasping for air.

In the first minutes of the second half, the Gators fell behind by eight on two occasions (41-33 with 18:11 left in the game; 46-38 with 15:47 left). That’s when Rueben Chinyelu and Haugh took the game over, scoring the next nine Florida points cutting LSU’s lead to 48-47. Florida took the lead for good on a short jumper in the lane by Walter Clayton Jr. with 12:16 to go and that was followed up by a layup and three by Urban Klavzar that sandwiched a Denzel Aberdeen steal and layup.  

It was 56-52 when Haugh went on what seemed like a personal vendetta with a pair of thunderous dunks and a tip-in as the Gators stretched the lead to 63-56. Haugh scored only three first half points (4 rebounds), but in the second half he scored 13 to go with six rebounds and three assists. He got it done on the defensive end as well with a block and a steal.

Golden had words with Haugh at the half and that seemed to inspire him to play at a higher level. He finished the game with Haugh 16 points on 7-9 shooting that included 2-2 from the 3-point line. He grabbed 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. In Florida’s last six games, Haugh has averaged 15.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists. He has eight blocked shots and eight steals in the last six.  

“Honestly, I thought first half he wasn’t playing as well as he normally does,” Golden said. “Usually, he keeps us in our offense and he’s a guy that’s making winning play after winning play, and I challenged him at halftime to keep us more organized and be more aggressive. We didn’t take him off the floor in the second half, and he was a huge part of the way we played and obviously had some big-time drives and finishes, a couple really nice dunks, another big three in front of our bench.”

Haugh was spectacular, but so was 6-10, 255-pound Rueben Chinyelu, who had the most dominant game of his Florida career. In the final 20 minutes, Chinyelu scored 11, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a shot. His final numbers were 19 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots. Chinyelu hit 8-14 of his shots from the field, 3-3 from the foul line. It was the most active Chinyelu has been on the offensive end. He scored on stickbacks, a dunk or two and a nifty short jumper. Defensively, he was intimidating.

“Rueben just did a great job imposing his will, finishing around the rim and cleaning up the glass,” Golden said. “He got us seven offensive rebounds, 19 points, two assists for him. Again, he’s improving so much in real time, and he’s given us a big lift over these last couple weeks.”

Chinyelu has scored in double figures the last four games, averaging 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds.

With Chinyelu, Haugh and Micah Handlogten (1 point, six rebounds, 1 assist) controlling the paint, the Gators outrebounded LSU, 24-14 in the second half, 48-33 for the entire game. The domination in the paint had plenty to do with Florida’s improved second half defense. The Gators held LSU to 28 points in the final 20 minutes when the Tigers were just 12-32 overall from the field and a miserable 3-15 from the 3-point line. For the game, LSU shot 24-63 from the field (38.1 percent) and 9-31 from the 3-point line (29 percent).

The second half defense was far more reminiscent of the way the Gators played the previous four games. It has been since the 90-81 win over Auburn that the Gators allowed an opponent to score 70 or more points.

“Defensively, I thought we drilled down, did a better job of taking away their high pick-and-roll game and getting out to shooters and making it uncomfortable for them to score,” Golden said. “A big part of this win for us tonight was imposing our will on the glass, plus-15 on the glass, gave ourselves some second-chance opportunities and limited their second-chance opportunities compared to ours.”

Five Gators scored in double figures led by Chinyelu with 19. Haugh scored 16 (10 rebounds), while Alijah Martin had 14 (6 rebounds, 1 assist), Clayton 13 (6 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals) and Aberdeen 11 (2 steals).

The Gators, who travel to Georgia (16-11, 4-10 SEC) Tuesday night, have won six consecutive games by an average of 15 points.  

SEC BASKETBALL

Saturday’s scores

No. 2 FLORIDA (24-3, 11-3 SEC) 79, LSU (14-13, 3-11 SEC) 65

No. 1 Auburn (25-2, 13-1 SEC) 82, Georgia (16-11, 4-10 SEC) 70

No. 4 Alabama (22-5, 11-3 SEC) 96, No. 17 Kentucky (18-9, 7-7 SEC) 83

No. 6 Tennessee (22-5, 9-5) 77, No. 7 Texas A&M (20-7, 9-5) 69

Arkansas (16-11, 5-9 SEC) 92, No. 15 Missouri (20-7, 9-5 SEC) 85

Oklahoma (17-10, 4-10 SEC) 93, No. 21 Mississippi State (19-8, 7-7 SEC) 87

Vanderbilt (18-9, 6-8 SEC) 77, No. 24 Ole Miss (19-8, 8-6 SEC) 72

South Carolina (11-16, 1-13 SEC) 84, Texas (16-11, 5-9 SEC) 69

Tuesday’s games

No. 2 FLORIDA (24-3, 11-3 SEC) at Georgia (16-11, 4-10 SEC)

No. 21 Mississippi State (19-8, 7-7 SEC) at No. 4 Alabama (22-5, 11-3 SEC)

No. 6 Tennessee (22-5, 9-5 SEC) at LSU (14-13, 3-11 SEC)

South Carolina (11-16, 1-13 SEC) at No. 15 Missouri (20-7, 9-5 SEC)

Wednesday’s games

No. 24 Ole Miss (19-8, 8-6 SEC) at No. 1 Auburn (25-2, 13-1 SEC)

Vanderbilt (18-9, 6-8 SEC) at No. 7 Texas A&M (20-7, 9-5 SEC)

No. 17 Kentucky (18-9, 7-7 SEC) at Oklahoma (17-10, 4-10 SEC)

Texas (16-11, 5-9 SEC) at Arkansas (16-11, 5-9 SEC)

Saturday, March 1

No. 7 Texas A&M (20-7, 9-5 SEC) at No. 2 FLORIDA (24-3, 10-3 SEC)

No. 1 Auburn (25-2, 13-1 SEC) at No. 17 Kentucky (18-9, 9-5 SEC)

No. 4 Alabama (22-5, 11-3 SEC) at No. 6 Tennessee (22-5, 9-5 SEC)

No. 15 Missouri (20-7, 9-5 SEC) at Vanderbilt (18-9, 6-8 SEC)

LSU (14-13, 3-11 SEC) at No. 21 Mississippi State (19-8, 7-7 SEC)

Oklahoma (17-10, 4-10 SEC) at No. 24 Ole Miss (19-8, 8-6 SEC)

Georgia (16-11, 4-10 SEC) at Texas (16-11, 5-9 SEC)

Arkansas (16-11, 5-9 SEC) at South Carolina (11-16, 1-13 SEC)