LSU’s men’s basketball team is set to face the University of Florida in Gainesville on Tuesday night. The matchup at Exactech Arena, Stephen C. O’Connell Center, will begin shortly after 6 p.m. Central Time and will be broadcast on the SEC Network with Roy Philpott and Jon Crispin providing commentary. Radio coverage will be available through affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network, including Baton Rouge’s Eagle 98.1 FM, with Chris Blair and former LSU head coach John Brady.
Both teams enter the game with records of 13-5, but their standings in the Southeastern Conference differ. LSU holds a 1-4 conference record while Florida is tied for first place at 4-1 alongside Texas A&M, following recent victories over Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt.
Florida recently defeated Vanderbilt 98-94 in Nashville. Reuben Chinyelu recorded 20 points and 10 rebounds in that game; Xaivian Lee also scored 20 points. Thomas Haugh contributed 18 points, Alex Condon added 16, and Isaiah Brown had 14 for the Gators under head coach Todd Golden, now in his fourth season at Florida.
For the season, Haugh leads Florida with an average of 17.4 points per game. Condon averages 14.4 points while Chinyelu is recording a double-double average of 11.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.
Against Vanderbilt, Florida shot just over fifty-two percent from the field (32-of-61), made nine three-pointers, converted twenty-five out of thirty free throws, outrebounded their opponent forty to twenty-six, and scored twenty-two second chance points.
On Saturday at home against Missouri, LSU led for almost the entire game before securing its first conference win with a final score of seventy-eight to seventy. The Tigers committed only seven turnovers—their lowest rate in SEC play so far—and outrebounded Missouri thirty-five to thirty overall (sixteen to nine on offensive boards), which led to a twenty-one to thirteen advantage in second-chance scoring opportunities.
LSU also achieved its third game this season with double-digit three-pointers made (ten). Marquel Sutton had his highest-scoring performance at LSU with twenty-six points—his third time scoring more than twenty this season—while Max Mackinnon continued his strong performance in conference games by scoring twenty points; Mackinnon currently leads LSU’s scoring during SEC play at nearly twenty points per contest.
The availability status of point guard DJ Thomas Jr., who has been sidelined due to a left lower leg injury since early January, will be updated Monday evening as he remains “day-to-day.”
Following Tuesday’s contest against Florida, LSU will travel again for a Saturday matchup against Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Additionally, because of this week’s schedule change due to travel commitments, head coach Matt McMahon’s weekly radio show will take place Wednesday at TJ Ribs on Acadian Thruway and air via the LSU Sports Radio Network.
