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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- The difference between two
up-and-coming Southeastern Conference teams Wednesday night was
depth.
Florida has it. LSU doesn't.
Freshman Justin Hamilton came off the bench to score 14 points as the reserves helped Florida (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) overcome foul trouble and illness for an 82-57 victory over LSU (No. 24 AP).
|  | | Florida freshman Brett Nelson, who scored 13 points, puts defensive pressure on LSU's Torris Bright. |
The Gators (13-2, 2-1 SEC) came into the game with their
second-leading scorer, Kenyan Weaks, ailing with flu-like symptoms.
Two minutes into the game, the team's leading scorer, Mike Miller,
drew two fouls and went to the bench for the rest of the half.
That presented a chance for Hamilton, one of the lesser-known members of Billy Donovan's latest recruiting class, to make his
first big impact with the Gators. He finished 6-for-9 to reach
double figures for the first time in his young career.
Another unheralded freshman, Matt Bonner, hit three 3-pointers in the first half to help the Gators to a 15-point halftime lead.
"The last 10 minutes of the first half, I thought the freshmen
did a phenomenal job," Donovan said. "Just look at their energy,
intensity and enthusiasm. We extended our lead, then played very,
very well in the second half. The young guys made some mistakes,
but the one thing you can't fault is their effort."
Back in The Associated Press poll for the first time in six
seasons, the Tigers (13-2, 1-2) showed none of the early-season
signs that seemed to signal the program's resurgence.
A roster with only eight full-time players tired quickly.
Sophomore Stromile Swift didn't help matters. Considered the
best thing to happen to LSU hoops since Shaquille O'Neal, Swift
barely showed up. He finished with two points and three turnovers
and failed to reach double figures for the second straight game.
"He didn't play well, that's what happened to him," LSU coach
John Brady said in a fiery postgame interview. "The Florida
players around the goal outplayed him. You saw it. If we're going
to be the kind of team that beats some teams in this league, we've
got to play with more sense of urgency. He's a big part of it and
he didn't do it."
He wasn't the only problem.
The Tigers did an awful job of two things they had to succeed at -- ballhandling and free-throw shooting. LSU committed 23 turnovers
while getting just seven assists. The Tigers shot just 11-for-18
from the line in the first half, before fatigue set in on the
talented-but-undermanned squad.
"Every team we play, people are going to have more depth than LSU, so I don't want to make issue of it," Brady said. "I wish
that would just go away. We are who we are. Who we play with is who
we play with."
Jabari Smith was the lone bright spot for the Tigers. He
finished with 15 points and eight rebounds to lead LSU, which was
playing a true road game for the first time this season.
Leading 45-32 early in the second half, Florida got a pair of
dunks from Udonis Haslem and two layups from Donnell Harvey during
a ragtag 13-0 run that decided the game.
Harvey finished with 10 points and freshman Brett Nelson scored some garbage-time points to finish with 13.
Miller got just five shots and finished with a career-low four
points. Weaks had just three points in 24 minutes and watched the
final 10 minutes of the game from the bench, wearing a sweatshirt.
Hamilton, who normally gets only four shots per game, said it
was nice to finally get into the flow.
"With each passing game, I just feel more comfortable," he
said. "Everybody has their slumps. You just have to keep shooting
and eventually, they'll go down."
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