Florida Gators
LSU
Florida Flattened by LSU to End 20-game SEC Home Winning Streak
Wednesday, January 21, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The words came from Billy Donovan's mouth rather matter-of-factly Tuesday night.
“I'm not surprised at all by this,” he said.
Suffice to say the 10,000-plus that filed out of the O'Connell Center had a different outlook on Florida's worst home basketball loss in more than four years. Louisiana State pounded on the inside, bombed from the outside and sliced up the UF press like a stick of butter in a 79-61 throttling that crashed UF's 20-game home winning streak against Southeastern Conference teams.
Forward Jarell Martin scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while frontcourt partner Jordan Mickey flailed away for 14 points and 14 rebounds for a Tigers team that shot 52 percent from the floor and 61.5 from 3-point range (8-for-13). Guards Keith Hornsby and Tim Quarterman threw in 15 points a piece.
The Gators (10-8, 3-2), in losing big for the second time in four days, got 10 points each from junior forwards Dorian Finney-Smith and Alex Murphy, as Donovan continues his search for consistency from somebody.
Anybody.
Ten UF players logged at least 12 minutes, as the Florida coaches tried to find a combination -- or even a single player -- who might provide the kind of lift this teetering team so desperately needs.
“It's like a revolving door,” Donovan said. “I was going to put [assistant coach John] Pelphrey in, but they said his eligibility was up.”
It would have taken more -- a lot more than -- than a 46-year-old Kentucky icon to inject what the Gators need right now. That's because they need so much.
“Whatever we're doing, we've got to change it,” Finney-Smith said.
Junior forward Alex Murphy's 10 points, his UF high transferring from Duke, was one of the few bright spots for the Gators in Tuesday night's lopsided loss.
Where to begin?
Let's start with post defense. Donovan and his staff took the team through waves of drills specifically suited toward trapping LSU's big and talented frontline players. Those tactics, however, involve discipline and fundamentals the like of which the Gators do not maintain. Martin and Mickey took advantage.
Moving on to the full-court press, UF's players either were out of position or gambled too often. The Tigers (14-4, 3-2) raced through the Gators in transition for a bevy of easy baskets.
And let's not forget the 3-point line. On Saturday, UF was bombarded by treys at Georgia, as the Bulldogs hit their first five on the way to going 8-for-15. The arc was a huge point of emphasis in preparation for LSU, which proceeded to match Georgia's eight 3-balls, but at an even better percentage. The Gators repeatedly got caught one rotation behind.
And, yes, Donovan saw it coming. That's why he stopped practice after about 30 minutes Monday and ordered his team back at 8 p.m., and demanded more focus. He actually got it then. Just not Tuesday.
But the seeds for these outcomes -- this season -- were sown months ago and Donovan told them so last spring and summer, harping on his players the need to establish a better, more consistent work ethic. 
“The veteran guys [on this team] that were coming back, there was a lack of discipline [last year] and they struggle in that area,” said Donovan, adding that the key returning players off last year's remarkable Final Four team -- Finney-Smith (left), Michael Frazier II, Kasey Hill and Chris Walker -- all had serious deficiencies in areas that were camouflaged by an incomparable group of four seniors. “I've tried a lot of different things with them, but they're going to have -- as much as I hate to say it -- just go through it to figure it out.”
The game was tied at 32 when LSU scored the final five points of the first half, including one of Hornsby's three 3-pointers. At the break, the Tigers had five 3s, compared to none for the Gators on five attempts.
Frazier broke the drought soon after the break, hitting a 3 at 18:48 that also broke the school record for consecutive games with at least one trey (he was tied with Lee Humphrey), pushing it to 40. Florida didn't hit another one for 12 minutes and by then, the Tigers -- aided by a five-minute UF stretch without a field goal -- had led by as many as 17. The closest the Gators the rest of the way was 10.
"It's all about discipline and doing our jobs right now, and we're not getting it done," Frazier said. "As soon as we correct that, there might be some change."
From LSU's side: "In the end, our guys got it done," Hornsby said.
The result was a lopsided eyesore that has not often reared itself in the 19-season Donovan era.
“Communications, rotations, stuff we do every day in practice and we're not doing out here ... we have to fix it,” Murphy said. “If we don't come together and figure this out, we're going to keep getting embarrassed.”
If that happens, Donovan won't be surprised.
And next time, he won't be the only one.
