It was seemingly a homecoming for senior guard Alijah Martin, who grew up in Summit, Mississippi, roughly an hour-and-a-half away from LSU’s campus. With various friends and family members in attendance, Martin showed out.
Basketball is undoubtedly a game of runs. LSU became all too familiar with this narrative after going on a 22-2 surge to close out the first half. However, it was Martin who capped off the final run that seemingly slammed the door shut on the Tigers’ hopes of an upset.
In 42 seconds, Martin single-handedly ripped off a 6-0 spurt with an and-one layup and a transition 3-pointer. The result extended UF’s lead back to double digits with under five minutes to play and allowed the Gators to cruise to victory.
After a shaky first half on both ends, No. 2 Florida (24-3, 11-3 SEC) bounced back in a big way in the second period. The Gators defeated LSU (14-13, 3-11 SEC) 79-65 at Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Saturday night.
UF sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu had a career night, posting a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double on 8-of-14 shooting from the field. Sophomore forward Thomas Haugh followed by tallying his third double-double this season with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Martin and fellow senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. rounded out Florida’s scoring attack. The Mississippi native scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and made two 3-pointers. Clayton Jr. added 13 points and six rebounds of his own.
Chinyelu gave the Gators a 2-0 edge less than one minute in with a pair of free throws. Less than three minutes later, the sophomore center put a solid move on his defender in the low post and finished a layup to extend Florida’s lead to 9-4.
UF wasted little time pulling away from LSU in the first half, and it used a similar method that it has all season to do so. Clayton Jr. splashed a 3-pointer and junior guard Denzel Aberdeen followed with an and-one floater to put UF ahead 15-4 at the 13:06 mark of the first half.
Martin knocked down his first 3-pointer and made a pair from the charity stripe that helped push Florida’s lead to 29-15 with just over seven minutes left in the first half.
However, from there, you’d likely be hard pressed to find a college basketball fan who would’ve expected what came next: LSU’s 22-2 rampage in the final 6:41 of the opening period. The spark was lit by a barrage of 3-pointers from LSU sophomore guard Mike Williams III, freshman forward Robert Miller III and graduate student guard Dji Bailey.
Meanwhile, it was arguably UF’s worst stretch of in-game action this season.
The Gators were on a 1-for-13 shooting skid and were scoreless for nearly three minutes during the final moments of the first half. In turn, Florida found itself on upset watch, as the Gators trailed 37-31 heading into halftime.
There were few signs that LSU’s momentum would slow down in the first five minutes of the second half. However, Clayton Jr. and Haugh kept UF afloat out of the break with four combined layups to cut the Tiger’s lead to 46-42.
Chinyelu scored five-straight points on a second chance tip-in layup followed by an and-one finish in the low post. The sophomore center’s hot hand down low shrunk UF’s deficit to just one with 12:49 remaining.
Despite the Tigers going on their dominant run to close out the first half, it was the Gators who delivered the final blow.
Florida went on a 22-6 run and a 14-0 surge to close out the contest, fueled by a wave of dunks and low-post finishes from Haugh and Chinyelu. What felt like a matchup that would go down to the wire finished in utter dominance by Florida.
There wasn’t just one or two players LSU had a hard time slowing down. Florida had five players finish with double-digit scoring marks and did so in efficient fashion. UF shot 31-of-70 (44%) from the field and grabbed 19 offensive boards to LSU’s 12. Moreover, the Gators ate the Tigers alive in the paint, out-scoring LSU 44-24 down low.
Defensively, Florida allowed just 28 points in the second half. The Gators held the Tigers to under 40% from 2-point range and under 30% from behind the arc.
Next, Florida will gear up for a road rivalry matchup against Georgia on Tuesday. Tipoff in Athens, Georgia, is set for 7 p.m.
Contact Max Tucker at mtucker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @Max_Tuckr1.
Max Tucker is a senior transfer student at UF. After obtaining his A.A. in Journalism from Santa Fe College in 2023, he chose to further his education at Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. Max is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a specialization in sports and media. He enjoys golfing and going to the beach with his friends in his free time.
