No. 2 Florida, riding win streak, faces optimistic LSU

Florida is riding a five-game winning streak, with each victory by at least nine points and the closest one coming on the road against No. 1 Auburn.

The No. 2 Gators will try to keep building momentum when they face LSU on Saturday in Baton Rouge, La.

Florida (23-3, 10-3 Southeastern Conference) began its winning run in the wake of a 64-44 defeat at then-No. 8 Tennessee on Feb. 1.

"We didn't lose any confidence after that game," Florida coach Todd Golden said. "We weren't shook. It allowed us to kind of recalibrate and focus on defending, rebounding, taking care of the ball, things that we know equate to winning.

"This league is the best league in college basketball in like 20 years. You're going to run into some tough opponents. Tennessee on their home floor is a tough game, and we didn't play very well that day, but we've obviously played really well since then."

The Gators have made at least 10 3-pointers in each game during the winning streak, hitting a total of 63 in 150 attempts (42.0 percent). Their season average from long range is just 35.2 percent.

"We've shot the ball really well over the past couple weeks," Golden said. "And when we do that ... our team has the ability to get some really good runs and get some spurts."

Florida has overcome injuries during its surge. Forward Alex Condon, the team's leading rebounder (7.8 per game) and fourth-leading scorer (10.6 points per game), and backup forward Sam Alexis (4.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg) both missed an 85-63 home victory against Oklahoma on Tuesday because of ankle injuries.

Even in their absence, the Gators managed their typical balanced scoring with five players finishing in double figures and no one staying on the court for more than 27 minutes.

The Tigers (14-12, 3-10) have had a tough conference season, but they have won their past two league games after a seven-game losing streak. They registered their largest margin of victory over an SEC opponent in an 81-67 home win against South Carolina on Tuesday.

"I think the credit goes to our players," LSU coach Matt McMahon said. "They've come to practice, every game. I think we've competed every game except one half. We needed something to go our way."

That happened when the Tigers overcame a five-point deficit in the final 20 seconds to beat Oklahoma 82-79 on the road Saturday, and they carried the positive feeling into the matchup with the Gamecocks.

"Playing in the last game against Oklahoma, we knew we could win in this league," said LSU's leading scorer, guard Cam Carter. "There have been a lot of learning experiences leading into the past two games, and I think we're figuring it out now."

LSU made 11 3-pointers against Oklahoma and followed that with 13 against South Carolina, its most against an SEC opponent.

The challenge against Florida will be much greater than the level the Tigers faced the previous two games.

"When we put 40 minutes together, I don't think anybody can beat us," Tigers guard Mike Williams III said. "Only putting one half together has been our biggest thing this year. These last two games we've put two halves together, and we've been rewarded. I think we can do that again Saturday along with execution, and we should be fine."

--Field Level Media