FINAL: No. 2 Florida 79, LSU 65

What Happened

BATON ROUGE, La. – Sophomores Rueben Chinyelu and Thomas Haugh posted double-doubles and were in the middle of Florida's second-half comeback, as the second-ranked Gators rallied from eight points down to beat LSU 79-65 in their Southeastern Conference game Saturday night at Maravich Assembly Center.

Chinyelu tallied a career-high 19 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots, while Haugh finished with 16 points, 10 boards and three assists. Their work on the glass was pivotal, as the Gators, winners of six straight, smashed the Tigers for a 48-33 rebounding advantage and 17-8 margin in second-chance points. UF's edge in points in the paint was 44-24.

The final score was not indicative of the game's tenor. UF, after blowing a 14-point first-half lead, had to overcome a second-half deficit that had the visitors down 46-38 with just over 15 minutes remaining. Haugh scored 13 points in the second half, with a handful of energy buckets and plays during the rally. Fifth-year guard Alijah Martin, also showed up during big second-half sequences. He returned to the starting lineup for the first time in five games and finished with 14 points and six rebounds, including six consecutive points during a pivotal late stretch to help put the game away.

Senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. added 13 points and six rebounds, while junior guard Denzel Aberdeen came off the bench for 11 points. The Gators, in winning their sixth straight, shot 55.6 percent in the second half (after 32.4 in the first) and defended the Tigers at 38.1 for the game and nine of 31 3-point line (29.0 percent).

LSU used a numbing 22-2 run over the final six-plus minutes of the first half to erase a 14-point UF lead and take a 37-31 lead to the locker room. The margin was eight after a Curtis Givens III 3-pointer, when a low-post floater by Chinyelu and transition layup from Haugh initiated a 14-3 blitz for the Gators, with a fast-break layup from backup sophomore guard Urban Klavzar giving UF a lead it never gave back.

Three minutes later, UF was up by eight, but the margin got back down to four. That's when Martin bombed a 3-pointer then followed it with an old-fashioned 3-point play (off a steal by Will Richard that initiated a fastbreak) to put the Gators up 10. Their lead was 18 with a little more than two minutes remaining, as LSU made just two of its last 10 field-goal attempts. Florida outscored LSU 48-28 in the second half.

Fifth-year senior guard **Alijah Martin** (15) returned to the starting lineup Saturday.

What it Means

The Gators have matched their regular-season victory total of last year (24) and their number of wins in league play (11), while also -- based on Texas A&M losing at home earlier in the day to Tennessee -- improving their place in the SEC standings. UF remains in a two-way tie with Alabama for second place (two games behind front-running Auburn), but has a 1.5-game lead on Missouri (subject to change later Saturday) and two-game lead on A&M and Tennessee in the quest to secure a two-day bye in the conference tournament next month.

In the Spotlight

Chinyelu was an animal in the post. It was his third double-double of the season. It was his fourth straight double-digit scoring game, after just three of the team's first 24 games. That's a great teammate response to sophomore forward and leading rebounder Alex Condon going down with an ankle injury four games ago. More outings like this, please.

Staggering Statistic

The game marked the fifth straight that Florida put five different players in double-figure scoring, a first in program history.

Up Next

Florida (24-3, 11-3) is back on the road Tuesday night for a rematch against Georgia (16-11, 4-10), which will start a run of four consecutive Quadrant 1 games, per the NCAA Evaluation Tool, to end the regular season. The Bulldogs gave No. 1 Auburn a go of it on the road earlier Saturday before losing 82-70 for their fourth straight defeat. LSU (14-13, 3-11) plays host to No. 6 Tennessee.

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu

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