National Basketball Association
Florida 83, Louisiana State 79
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 2, 2021
Where: Billy Donovan Court at Exactech Arena, Gainesville, Florida
Officials:
# Tony Greene, # Chuck Jones, # Wil Howard
Attendance:
2211
By Field Level Media
Colin Castleton scored 21 points to lead Florida to an 83-79 victory over LSU on Saturday afternoon in Southeastern Conference action in Gainesville, Fla.
Tre Mann had 19 points, Scottie Lewis added 17 and Anthony Duruji 16 for the Gators (5-1, 2-0).
Cameron Thomas scored 28, Trendon Watford had 21 and Javonte Smart 20 to lead the Tigers (6-2, 1-1).
The score was tied at 40 at intermission before Castleton and Watford dominated the scoring early in the second half.
Watford scored LSU's first eight points, but Castleton countered by netting Florida's first 15 points.
Tyree Appleby became the first Gator other than Castleton to score in the half when he made a jumper to give Florida a 57-50 lead with 13:17 remaining.
The Gators pushed the lead to 62-52 on a 3-pointer by Mann. The Tigers cut the lead to five before Mann made another 3-pointer and Duruji added a layup.
Thomas' two free throws got the Tigers within 72-65 with 5:21 left, but Castleton answered with two free throws.
LSU got within eight three times before Mwani Wilkinson's layup and Thomas' steal and layup got it within 78-74 with 29 seconds left.
Lewis made five three throws down the stretch to maintain the lead.
LSU scored the first five points of the game and the score was tied twice before Florida took its first lead at 13-12 on a jumper by Duruji.
Watford and Smart answered with back-to-back 3-pointers before the score was tied again at 21 and 23, respectively.
Duruji's sank a tie-breaking 3-pointer, but Thomas made four consecutive free throws to start an 8-0 run that gave LSU a 31-26 lead.
Noah Locke's jumper ended the run and a 7-0 run by the Gators gave them a 35-33 lead.
The Tigers answered with their own 7-0 run as Smart converted a three-point play and Thomas had a four-point play.
Omar Payne made two free throws and Duruji made a 3-pointer with three seconds left to tie the score at 40.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Louisiana State |
|
Florida |
|
Cameron Thomas 28 |
Scoring |
Colin Castleton 21 |
|
Trendon Watford 3 |
Assists |
Tyree Appleby 5 |
|
Trendon Watford 8 |
Rebounds |
Anthony Duruji 7 |
|
Cameron Thomas 11 |
Free Throws Made |
Colin Castleton 7 |
|
Cameron Thomas 3 |
Steals |
Scottie Lewis 2 |
|
Trendon Watford 1 |
Blocks |
Colin Castleton 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Louisiana State
|
79 |
41.0 |
7-18 |
22-25 |
9 |
28 |
2 |
8 |
13 |
| Florida
|
83 |
50.0 |
5-21 |
20-23 |
9 |
34 |
2 |
5 |
13 |
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