After Riley Kugel went to the bench with two fouls, Florida and LSU played a ragged end to their first half in the O’Connell Center on Saturday night, with the Tigers going into halftime with a four-point lead. Then LSU won the first segment of the second half, running roughshod against the Gators and building a 12-point lead.
But Kugel — and a surprisingly effective adjustment from Todd Golden — would not let the Gators lose.
Kugel scored 21 points, 17 of them both in the second half and specifically after LSU took that 12-point lead, and a menacing Florida press overwhelmed the Tigers in the second half, leading to a 24-point turnaround in the final 16 minutes and a 79-67 win for the Gators.