UF guard Walter Clayton Jr. had one of the Gators' dunks of the year during a first half when they opened a big (and temporary) lead Tuesday night against LSU.
UF Survives Another Second-Half Swoon
Wednesday, February 14, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the postgame locker room, Todd Golden told his players to keep their heads up. Yes, the Florida Gators had blown another fat lead, this one a 20-point cushion in the second half. Yes, once again, the Gators went stone-cold for a run of possessions that allowed Southeastern Conference rival LSU to storm back and stun the home crowd by tying the game in the final 90 seconds. But, no, the Gators did not stop battling nor give in to the negative plays and negative vibes swirling inside Exactech Arena/O'Connell.
Instead, UF made enough plays late – and LSU misfired on one very big one even later – to escape Tuesday night with an 82-80 victory that was worth celebrating mostly through relief rather than a sense of achievement.
"It didn't feel like a win," junior guard Walter Clayton Jr. said. "But it didn't feel like a loss, either."
UF freshman forward Alex Condon sank the first of two free throws for a two-point lead with 9.9 seconds to go. LSU, which shredded the Gators for 62.5-percent shooting in the second half, brought the ball into the halfcourt with a chance to tie the game with a two or win it with a 3-pointer. Guard Jordan Wright tossed a pass to his right, where forward Will Baker caught the ball on the wing, then returned it instantly to Wright cutting to the basket. Wright received the pass wide open in the lane and tossed up a soft floater from maybe five feet.
The shot was short. The buzzer sounded.
The Gators (17-7, 7-4), in equaling their victory total of last season, claimed their sixth win in seven games and are 10 games over .500 for the first time in February since 2017. All those things are pretty good.
"Obviously really pleased with the outcome," UF coach Todd Golden said. "Not pleased with the recurring theme of some of our second halves lately."
Florida coach Todd Golden, whether from his seat or pacing the sidelines, had a lot to be anxious about in the second half Tuesday.
A review of what Golden called a "recurring theme" with his club:
UF led Kentucky by 11 in the first half in the SEC opener and lost 87-85 at home on Jan. 6.
UF led Mississippi State by 21 in the second half before the Bulldogs cut the margin to five late, but eventually prevailed 79-70 at home Jan. 24.
UF led Georgia by 21 in the second half and won 102-98 in overtime at home on Jan. 27.
UF led Texas A&M by 13 on the road in the second half, but lost 67-66 on Feb. 3.
UF led Auburn by 29 in the second half at home Saturday and won 81-65. OK, so that one might be nitpicking a bit, but it was top of mind.
Now another 20-point, second-half meltdown.
But another win.
"We have a lot of confidence when those tight situations occur," Condon said. "We have trust with each other that we can get it done, but obviously we don't want it get that close."
Golden pointed a finger at himself, even though he wasn't the one shooting a miserable 34.2 percent, including 2 of 11 from distance, in the second half.
"I need to do a better job with our guys," he said. "I've been really pouring into our energy and effort being our main priority at practice, and our guys have done a really good job with that. I think you can see the growth in that area of our team."
It's hard building 20-point leads in a league as powerful as the SEC, so that's something worth talking about. But so is protecting leads and closing out games minus the second-half drama. That's a conversation the team will have – again – when it resumes practice later this week.
Clayton Jr. led all scorers with 21 points, including 14 during a first half when the Gators shot a season-high 66.7 percent (20 of 30 from the floor) and led 48-34 at the break. Clayton's 3-pointer with just under 16 minutes to go was part of a 10-point run – after the Tigers (12-12, 4-7) had cut the margin to 10 early in the second period – gave the Gators a 60-40 lead. Cruise control, right?
From that point, starting when LSU switched to a zone defense, UF missed 10 of its next 11 shots, while the Tigers were heating up behind Wright (16 points, 5 rebounds), behind the 3-point line (6 of 9 for the period) and by getting to the free-throw line and slowly chipping away.
"When they play [zone], you got to make them pay," Golden said. "We need to take the top off that zone by banging a couple shots and I think it would take a little stress off of our shoulders."
Florida led by 10 with just over five minutes to go, by seven with three minutes left, but by only three after two free throws and a driving floater by Wright drew the Tigers within 78-75 with just over two minutes remaining.
When UF grad point guard Zyon Pullin (14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) missed a jumper just inside the 2-minute mark, LSU backup guard Tyrell Ward (12 points, 3-for-5 from the arc) answered the play by swishing a 3 with 1:29 remaining to tie the game at 78 and send a collective groan throughout the dome.
The teams traded empty possessions, with the Gators taking a one-point lead, 79-78, when grad forward Tyrese Samuel (15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) hit one of two free throws with 38 seconds left. LSU inbounded poised to take its first lead since three minutes into the game.
In the Tigers halfcourt, though, Pullin got into his point guard counterpart, Jalen Cook (12 points, 3 assists), forced a loose ball that he retrieved by diving to the floor and shoveling ahead to Samuel in transition. Samuel gave it up to Clayton, whose layup gave the Gators a 81-78 lead with 20 seconds to go.
Walter Clayton Jr.'s run-out layup with 22 seconds to go (after a steal by Zyon Pullin) gave the Gators a three-point cushion.
The Tigers, out of their final timeout, got an easy layup from Jordan to make it a one-point game with 11 seconds remaining. They immediately fouled Condon, sending the 6-foot-11 rookie (shooting 68.8 percent on the season and 74.2 in league play) to the line for two free throws with 9.9 to go.
Condon (9 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks) made the first, but rimmed out the second. At LSU's end, Wright crossed up Pullin, drove left and got free above the free-throw line, but pitched the ball to Baker (16 points), who returned the favor as Wright cut to the bucket.
None of the three defenders circling Wright were within five feet. They were cheating out in concern for the 3-point line. Wright had a point-blank, unguarded look at the rim and simply short-armed it at the horn.
"You couldn't have asked for a better shot there," LSU coach Matt McMahon said.
Or better outcome … for the Gators, that is.
"We're thankful he missed that layup," Samuel said. "We're thankful that we came out with a W. That's all we could really ask for right now."
UF will wake up Wednesday in a tie for fifth place with Kentucky and just two games out of first place in the league standings. Those two teams started the day tied also with Texas A&M in that No. 5 spot, but the Aggies lost 74-73 at the buzzer at Vanderbilt, a team that started the day 6-17 overall and 1-9 in SEC play.
For Florida, yeah, things could have turned out worse. Way worse.
"Obviously, there wasn't elation. We weren't happy with what had transpired," Golden said of the post-game mood. "Our guys are, at this point in the season, [we're] battle-tested, especially in this type of situation and we did what we needed to down the stretch."
