Defending national champion Florida continues to round into form, which presents a challenge for an LSU team trying to regain its footing.
The longtime rivals resume Southeastern Conference play on Tuesday night when No. 19 Florida hosts LSU in Gainesville, Fla. The Gators (13-5, 4-1 SEC) boast a 15-game home-court winning streak dating back to January 2025, including an 8-0 mark this season.
Florida is riding a four-game win streak following an impressive effort against then-No. 10 Vanderbilt on Saturday.
The Gators also have had the upper hand recently in the series with LSU, winning four straight as well as 10 of the last 13 going back to 2016-17.
Florida is tied atop the conference regular-season standings with Texas A&M, thanks in part to its back-and-forth, 98-94 victory over Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn. Florida largely benefited from a 22-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Junior center Rueben Chinyelu’s stellar performance included a career-high 20 points (7-of-9 shooting from the field) and 10 rebounds (five offensive) for his 10th double-double this season.
Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee added 20 points and was among five double-figure scorers for Florida, which has responded favorably to a two-point loss at Missouri on Jan. 3 with the four consecutive wins, all in conference.
“We’ve been criticized a lot this year for our offense and our shooting,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “But I think, you know, (seven of the last eight games) we’ve scored over 90 points. I think we’re a top-10 team analytically now on KenPom, so we’ve made a big jump that way, and for us as we continue on in SEC play, we need to be really good on both sides of the ball if we want a chance to win this league.”
Facing a possible 0-5 start in SEC play, LSU got a much-needed win on Saturday. The Tigers built a 10-point halftime lead against visiting Missouri en route to a 78-70 victory as fifth-year senior forward Marquel Sutton (season-high 26 points) and 6-foot-6 senior guard Max Mackinnon combined for 46 points.
LSU (13-5, 1-4) breezed to a 12-1 start in nonconference play, but losses to Texas A&M, South Carolina, then-No. 11 Vanderbilt and Kentucky followed. Starting point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., a UNLV transfer averaging a team-high 16.2 points and 7.1 assists per game, sustained a lower leg injury and missed those games as well against Missouri.
A 75-74 home setback to Kentucky was particularly deflating. Leading by one with 1.6 seconds left, LSU watched Malachi Moreno hit a 17-foot buzzer-beater for the Wildcats after catching a pass that traveled three-quarters of the length of the court.
The Tigers, however, were resilient against Missouri, on a day when LSU celebrated the 40th anniversary of coach Dale Brown’s 1986 Final Four squad.
“I think we showed maturity, being an older group,” said Mackinnon, a transfer from the University of Portland. “It’s great to get the win, and we’re going to keep the momentum going into Florida.”
The Tigers struggled with turnovers in Thomas’ absence but committed only seven in their first conference win. LSU’s three-point defense also proved key as Missouri went just 6 of 18 from deep. Florida, by comparison, is shooting 28.4% from behind the arc through 18 games.
“Now we gotta keep building,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “We gotta get a lot better and keep improving as we go hit the road here in league play now.”
–Field Level Media
