GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It was a hard-fought game, but Jalen Hudson’s 33 points were not enough to defeat LSU in overtime Saturday night as the tenth-ranked Tigers escaped with a 79-78 victory.
With just seconds remaining in overtime KeVaughn Allen caught the ball in the corner and drove to put up a shot for the win but could not get it off in time and the game ended.
“Crushing. Just crushing,” head coach Mike White said after the game. “To not get a shot off on the last possession is just really disheartening. We had done so many positive things to put ourselves in that position.”
Hudson led the team with his 33 points (11/20) but Keyontae Johnson (15 points), Kevarrius Hayes (8 points and 15 boards) and Noah Locke (10 points) has a big impact as well.
Florida started off on the right foot to begin senior night, jumping out to a 7-4 lead five minutes in. The Gators converted on their first couple of buckets while turning the Tigers over three times.
That wouldn’t last very long though. LSU would start to find a rhythm with around 13 minutes left in the half as they began utilizing their size down low and finding easy layups.
In just two and a half minutes they would improve their field goal percentage from 40 to 60 and to add insult to injury, Florida’s offense was not on point. With 8:28 remaining in the half UF was one of its last eight while LSU had hit eight of its last nine. However, they were only ahead 23-18.
What kept Florida close in the first half was it’s ability to draw fouls and convert at the free throw line. For the half the Gators were 11-15 on trips to the charity stripe.
As the half continued though it became abundantly clear LSU’s size was a big problem for Florida. LSU consistently beat Florida for rebounds and second chance opportunities.
The Gators hung in as best they could but the offensive woes continued and the Tigers would build a 32-23 lead with just under six to play, but Florida wouldn’t give in and just wait for halftime though.
Even though LSU would outrebound the Gators 19-11 for the half and had more than double the second-chance points (9-4) Florida would continue to hang around and eventually would find a rhythm as the half wound down.
LSU would only score two points in the final six minutes while the Gators would drop eight and go into the break only down 34-31 after being dominated for most of the half.
The second half didn’t initially start all that well for either team but would eventually pick up. With just over three minutes in Johnson tipped a pass and Locke broke down the court. He stopped, and fired it back to Nembhard who drained a wide-open three to take the lead 41-39.
At the under-16 media timeout the lead still stood and Florida was amidst an 8-0 run. Then the biggest surprise of the season happened. Jalen Hudson ripped off 11 straight points while the Gators held the Tigers to no field goals. At the under eight timeout Florida held the edge 55-50.
Eventually Hudson would cool down for a bit and Florida went on a near-three minute drought but would lock down defensively, holding LSU to a 3:16 stretch with no field goals. Hudson would hit 18 straight points for Florida over seven minutes.
“He got it going and showed himself and all of us what he’s capable of,” White said of his senior forward.
The Gators were starting to take over behind Hudson’s offensive outburst and led 62-54 with just over six minutes left. But in what seemed like an instant LSU regained the lead (66-64) with just under four to play.
The final stretch was a battle. With 29 seconds remaining Hudson converted a huge dunk to make it a one-point game and after Skylar Mays missed the front end of the one-and-one Hudson hit arguably the biggest shot of the season on a go-ahead three with six seconds remaining.
The crowd went nuts. Everybody was almost in awe except for Tremont Waters, who raced down the court and scored on a layup to tie the game as time ran out to send it to overtime.
“Absolutely,” White said when asked if they could have put up more resistance on Waters. “I’ve already watched it. It’s easier said than done. Tremont Waters with a head of steam. Skylar Mays on his right, Javonte Smart on his left. It was difficult to defend. We could have provided more help there.”
As overtime began the Gators seemed to still be shocked they were playing at all still and quickly gave up a 5-0 run to start. Florida would eventually score with three and a half to go to make it a three-point game.
Naz Reid would hit a jumper and Nembhard would answer. With 2:22 to go Hayes drew a foul and converted two major free throws to make it a one-point game again.
Time would continue to wind down and with 17 seconds left the Gators forced a missed jumper by Mays and once again held the ball with a chance to win on the final possession.
Hudson caught the inbounds and started to look for an opening, but slipped and had to give it up to Johnson. Johnson found Allen in the corner with a few seconds still left. He drove and tried to put up a shot, but thought he had more time and wasn’t able to get it off before time expired and the Gators fell 79-78.
“They were in zone,” Hudson said of the final play. “Coached called an out-of-bounds play for me to catch it at the top and try to attack. They were in zone so it was easier for them to cut me off. I tried to kick it to somebody to get a shot up, but they only had five seconds.”
Despite Hudson’s best performance of the season the Gators couldn’t come up with a victory against the Tigers after turning things around in the second half.
“We played a lot harder in the second half and the last four minutes of the first half,” Hayes said. It’s all about putting it all together. I think the offensive rebounds killed us, guarding the ball one-on-one, having to be in rotations kind of hurt us a little bit.
“If we could have controlled our effort in the first half it would at least put us in a better position.”
