Chris Chiozza searched the sky.
The ball hung high in the air after being tipped, so Florida’s point guard ran. He caught the ball just past the half-court line and looked up. There, with no defenders in front of him, KeVaughn Allen was running toward the basket. Pass. Catch. Score.
Allen’s uncontested layup gave UF a 22-point lead late in the first half — a sign of more to come.
“The basket seems to be a little bit bigger when you’re in a defensive rhythm,” UF coach Mike White said.
Fresh off of a miserable two-game losing streak — one in which the Gators defended poorly, shot a combined 18.6 percent from three-point range and openly criticized each other’s lack of effort and communication — UF looked like a revamped team Wednesday night.
There was energy. There were points. And behind an improved defensive outing and one of its best offensive performances of the season, No. 25 Florida (15-5, 6-2 SEC) defeated LSU (9-10, 1-7) 106-71 on the road to earn its first conference win since Jan. 14.
“Our defense, that’s gotta be our identity,” White said. “But we made a bunch of shots tonight.”
Florida shot 56.3 percent from the field and made 57.6 percent of its three-pointers. The Gators’ 19 three pointers set a school record, and their 58 first-half points were the most under second-year coach White.
With Canyon Barry, Florida’s second-leading scorer, sidelined with a sprained ankle, forward Devin Robinson sparked UF’s offense. He made four three-pointers in the first half alone and finished the game with a career-high 24 points on 9-for-15 shooting.
“I just knew with Canyon out, somebody had to step up,” Robinson said. “We knew we really needed this one, so we came out focused.”
Freshman Eric Hester also helped fill the void left by Barry, scoring a career-high 16 points and making all five of his three-pointers.
But as well as Florida played, LSU played equally poorly. The Tigers missed wide-open shots. They made careless passes. They lagged back on defense after missed shots and even after makes, creating scoring opportunities for a Florida team desperate to prove it's worthy of a top-25 ranking.
During one sequence in the first half, when LSU guard Brandon Samson made a mid-range jumper, the Tigers’ defense failed to account for UF forward Kevarrius Hayes, who was streaking down the middle of the court. Chiozza delivered a cross-court pass into Hayes’ outstretched arms. Two steps later, Hayes had a dunk, and the Gators had a 27-14 lead.
“We tried to move the ball, share the ball and just try to find open guys,” Robinson said. “Our defense got our offense going.”
Maybe most impressively, Florida limited LSU leading scorer Antonio Blakeney to just four points. And it held the rest of the Tigers to 43.8 percent shooting from the field, forcing 11 turnovers and handing them their sixth consecutive loss.
“Hopefully we can maintain our momentum and have some carry over,” White said. “Our locker room right now has some confidence, and we feel pretty good about ourselves.”
A radio and television broadcast contributed to this report.
Contact Ian Cohen at icohen@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @icohenb.
Florida forward Devin Robinson (1) dunks the ball for two of his game high 24-points as LSU guard Jalyn Patterson (11) and LSU guard Kieran Hayward (5) watch in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017, in Baton Rouge, La. Florida won 106-71. (AP Photo/Bill Feig)
