At the Buzzer: LSU 84, Florida 82
Tuesday, January 21, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
LSU 84, FLORIDA 82
LSU 84, FLORIDA 82
WHAT HAPPENED: Sophomore forward Keyontae Johnson's game-tying layup off an inbound pass left his hand a split-second after the horn, was waved off and allowed the Tigers to survive a furious UF comeback and escape Maravich Assembly Center with an 84-82 victory Tuesday night in their Southeastern Conference game. The Gators trailed by 11 with just over three minutes left (and by 10 with 1:20 to go) when they took off on a stunning spree of eight straight points that made it a three-point game, then got it to one, 81-80, when Johnson banged a 3-pointer with 30.8 seconds left. Two free throws by LSU senior Skylar Mays had the Tigers up four, 84-80, with 8.2 left, but a tip-in by Kerry Blackshear Jr. with just over a second left cut the lead to two. The Tigers were ruled to have turned the ball over on the ensuing inbound with 0.5 remaining. After a stoppage, the Gators lined up for a baseline out-of-bounds play and Johnson broke free down the left side of the lane, took a feed from Andrew Nembhard and hurried the ball to the rim -- a fraction too late. Sophomore forward Emmitt Williams led all scorers with 19 points scored as the Tigers played to their reputation of giving opponents fits inside with 50 paint points. The Tigers, the only unbeaten team remaining in league play, went 15-for-31 (51.6 percent) from the floor in the second half. When they weren't converting in close, they were getting to the free-throw line or offensive rebounding (15 of them) for extra possessions. The backcourt tandem of Mays and sophomore Javonte Smart combined for 31 points and 14 assists, while freshman forward Trendon Watford went 6-for-7 from the floor with six rebounds. Backup guard Marlon Taylor had 10 points and 11 rebounds UF was led by Johnson's 16 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore shooting guard Noah Locke also had 16 points, sophomore point guard Nembhard had 15 points and 10 assists, while grad-transfer forward Kerry Blackshear Jr.'s added 15 points and five rebounds. UF shot 50.8 percent for the game, upping that number considerably late during their frantic rally.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Take a bow, David Werner. What the UF basketball trainer (aka "Duke") did to get Blackshear available was thoroughly impressive. Blackshear was hit by that wicked stomach virus just before the Gators were schedule to fly out of Gainesville. While the team dealt with a five-hour travel delay, Werner took Blackshear back to campus to meet with a doctor, get him meds and pump him with IVs. Werner arranged for another doctor, Josh Altman, to be a late addition to travel party to monitor Blackshear overnight -- UF did not check into their Baton Rouge hotel until nearly 2 a.m. ET -- and into Tuesday. By mid-day, Blackshear was well enough to do some stuff at shoot-around and about two hours before tip-off got another dose of IVs. He finished four of six from the floor, hit both his 3-point attempts and three of four free throws over 33 minutes.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Freshman forward Omar Payne had a layup, alley-oop slam and tip-in in the first half. Those three makes on three attempts, combined with his 9-for-9 performance Saturday against Auburn, plus his 4-for-4 last week against Ole Miss, gave Payne 16 consecutive made field goals, which overtook the 15 straight that Nembhard made over a three-game span his 2018-19 freshman season. Where does Payne's consecutive makes rank? We've got our archivists working on it. Payne had his first missing early in the second half. He eventually fouled out after scoring seven points and grabbing four rebounds, and probably regretting a decision at 14:09 the second half (Gators leading a one-point game) where he was called for a dead-ball flagrant foul that resulted in two free throws and possession.
UP NEXT: Florida (12-6) is home Saturday to face top-ranked Baylor (16-1) in the nightcap of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. The game will represent the 19th time UF has faced a team ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll -- the Gators are 2-16 all-time -- but just the second time the program has hosted a No. 1 team that was not Kentucky. On Monday, the Bears jumped Gonzaga and became the seventh team to be voted No. 1 this season and a hours later survived a scare by holding off Oklahoma to win 61-57 at home and improve to 6-0 in Big 12 play.
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