Florida collapses down the stretch again, this time against LSU.
By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published February 15, 2004
GAINESVILLE - Billy Donovan doesn't have a clue right now, and the Florida coach openly admits it. He's done everything he can think of, but nothing is working. He just cannot get his team to play solid defense.
Or any defense at all many times in the waning minutes of a game.
So 30 minutes after No. 22 Florida lost for the third time in four by a combined eight points, a baffled and subdued Donovan put it out there for all to hear: If the Gators don't start playing better defensively they might not win another game.
Leading LSU by seven with less than five minutes remaining, Florida's defense collapsed again, and the Tigers earned a 73-70 win in front of 11,086 at the O'Connell Center Saturday.
"I think the difference today was probably the inability of us to get a stop," Donovan said. "It's been a problem for our team all year. ... You're not going to win many games allowing 59.1 percent shooting from the field. I just can't get them to get a stop right now."
Florida led 53-43 with 10:43 left and seemed in command, but then came the defensive slip that continues to haunt. LSU was 9-of-11 from the field in the final 10 minutes and scored on its final 12 possessions. Subsequently, Florida (14-7, 5-5 SEC) scored just four in the final four minutes.
It was the first win in Gainesville for LSU (17-4, 7-3) since 1998 and only its third on the road this season.
"They needed this win and we took their best shot at home and were able to win it," LSU coach John Brady said. "I told our team before the game, you're prepared, you know what to do, you have the ability, you have the talent. All you have to do is believe you can do it and go out and win the game."
Trailing 66-64, sophomore Darel Mitchell's layup tied the score, then his two free throws on the Tigers' next possession gave LSU its first lead since 2:48 remaining in the first. LSU was just 3-of-6 from the line in the final 20 seconds, which allowed the Gators two opportunities to tie or win it.
After Anthony Roberson (18 points, six rebounds) hit a 3-pointer with five seconds left to pull Florida within 72-70, LSU's Jaime Lloreda hit one of his two free throws with four seconds left. But Florida forward Christian Drejer's shot just over the halfcourt line never hit the rim.
"It was a play where me and Christian split up and whoever got open would shoot the ball," Roberson said.
LSU's best player, Lloreda, reinjured his left ankle that has been plagued by bursitis and later sat out several minutes after twisting his right ankle with 13 minutes left in the second.
"The second time really hurt and I didn't think I was going to get back into the game," said Lloreda who finished with a team-high 19 points and nine rebounds.
"But as I sat on the bench the pain kept getting less and less so the trainer just tightened up my shoes and I went back in the game."
LSU led by as many as nine in the first, but Florida outscored the Tigers 17-7 to take a 33-32 halftime lead.
Sophomore forward Matt Walsh, who scored nine of the Gators' first 11 in the second, finished with a game-high 24. But it was no consolation.
"It seems like down the stretch in games, we just haven't been able to get stops that we need," Walsh said.
Three other players scored in double figures for LSU: Brandon Bass (13), Tack Minor (10) and Mitchell (18), who was shooting 60 percent from 3-point range in the past five and finished 4-for-6.
Florida had a week off since its last game, but Donovan said he thought fatigue might be a factor.
He added that the staff spent an inordinate amount of time working on defense during the layoff, to no avail.
The Gators will finish out the season with four of six on the road.
"Right now, until we guard somebody, we are not a very good team," Donovan said. "We cannot constantly keep coming down the stretch playing like we're playing."
