The Gators start the most difficult stretch of their regular season tonight staring in the mouths of angry Tigers.
UF hosts No. 23 LSU tonight at 7 in the O’Connell Center to kick off a four-game stint against ranked opponents (No. 5 Tennessee, No. 17 Kentucky and No. 19 Georgia).
The Tigers (15-7, 4-6 Southeastern Conference) are coming off a triple-overtime loss to Ole Miss that dropped them to ninth place in the SEC. Despite being unranked, the Gators (13-10, 6-4 SEC) are tied for third in the conference with the Rebels.
“Every team in our league is just so good and talented,” coach Amanda Butler said. “You look at LSU’s conference record and people might ask, ‘Are they not that good?’ No, that’s definitely not the case. They just happen to be playing in the best league in the country.”
The Tigers come into the game with one of the nation’s stingiest defenses, ranking seventh in scoring.
Holding opponents to an average of 52.7 points per game, LSU boasts the toughest defense UF will have played in the conference. It’ll be its most formidable defensive foe since Rutgers, who held the Gators to a season-low 38 points on Dec. 7, just 14 in the first half.
“They pride themselves on defense,” guard Jordan Jones said. “LSU, no matter what their record is, they’re still LSU. They’re going to come out here and be physical. They’re going to be aggressive.”
The Tigers’ aggressive defense is evident. LSU is tied with Kentucky for second in the nation (and first in the conference) in turnover margin (8.0). Meanwhile, the Gators sit tied for 214th in the country (ninth in the SEC) in that category (-.78).
The Tigers will look to pounce on UF’s inconsistency handling the ball. There have been games where the Gators have four or five turnovers in one half but cough up the ball double-digit times in the other.
Against Auburn, the Gators committed six turnovers in the first half but had 11 after halftime. And Florida’s 16 first-half turnovers proved costly against Georgia on Jan. 10.
“Mississippi State played really aggressive pressure defense,” Jones said. “But what we’re going to face with LSU, we’re going to have to multiply that by 10.”
If the Gators hope to win, they’ll have to play some defense, too.
That starts with trying to contain preseason SEC Player of the Year Allison Hightower. In 10 conference games this season, Hightower averaged 19.6 points per game. Teammate LaSondra Barrett isn’t far behind, scoring 17 per contest in conference action.
Shutting down a prominent scorer isn’t an unusual position for the Gators.
The team has succeeded against top SEC scorers Angie Bjorklund (Tennessee), Alexis Rack (Mississippi State), and Valerie Nainima (South Carolina), holding them to below-average totals.
This time Florida has to slow down two threats.
The preseason favorite to win the SEC, LSU has struggled more than anticipated. With six of seven losses coming after January, the Tigers have added motivation to prove they’re better than their record.
“They’re going to come out here and they want to prove themselves,” Jones said. “We can’t look at their record and take them lightly.”
