LSU guard Daryl Edwards lowered his head at the sound of the final buzzer.
His teammate, forward Naz Reid, flung the ball toward the basket for one last shot before he ambled off the court.
Florida guard Andrew Nembhard bounced up and down as forward Keyontae Johnson galloped toward him in triumph.
UF celebrated a win over Alabama as its most important victory of the season just four days prior. But the statement win it desperately needed came Wednesday in an 82-77 overtime upset of No. 13 LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The Gators played with more fight than LSU despite the Tigers’ ability to keep the game close with timely runs. One was an 11-2 run at the start of the second half to take the lead.
Florida controlled the pace of the game and was active on defense. It scored 21 points off 14 turnovers, and it held a Tigers team that averages 82.7 points per game to 64 points in regulation.
The Gators got 21 points from their bench and showed just how desperate they were to get another “Quadrant 1” win on their resume with the NCAA Tournament’s “Selection Sunday” coming up on March 17.
That culminated in just two plays on Wednesday.
The first came midway through the second half after the Tigers had taken a 44-42 lead.
Nembhard and forward Dontay Bassett double-teamed LSU guard Tremont Waters as he tried to force a pass to forward Kavell Bigby-Williams under the basket.
Bassett intercepted the pass and dished the ball to Nembhard, who took it the other way. He found guard Deaundrae Ballard for a wide -open, pull-up jumper that stopped the LSU momentum swing and tied the game.
The second came in overtime.
Senior guard KeVaughn Allen had emerged as the Gators’ key offensive weapon after being held scoreless through the first 20 minutes of play.
He scored nine in the second half, and with a little over two minutes left in the extra period, he buried a three-pointer over guard Skylar Mays from the top of the key.
Allen followed that up by swiping the ball from Reid on the defensive end. He drained another three on the following UF possession to give Florida a six-point lead.
His intensity late in the matchup powered him to a game-high 21 points, including 12 in overtime.
But that fervor hasn’t been consistently present from Allen and his teammates this season.
It was that same fight that coach Mike White said the team was lacking after it blew its lead and lost to South Carolina on Jan. 5, after it nearly lost to Arkansas the same way on Jan. 9, and again on Jan. 12 in its late collapse against Tennessee.
Florida’s last two wins have come from its ability to simply outplay its opponents and maintain its aggression, especially on defense.
That’s something the Gators needed as a part of their identity all year. And it’s something they’ll need when they face Missouri on Saturday at 4 p.m.
“We’ve got some deficiencies, of course,” White said on Tuesday, “especially on the (offensive) side of the basketball. But this team … we’re physical. This team will fight you a little bit.”
Follow Alanis Thames on Twitter @alanisthames and contact her at athames@alligator.org.
Florida guard Andrew Nembhard recorded 11 assists in Florida's 81-72 win over Texas A&M on Jan. 22.
