Louisiana State @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 20, 2019 ) Florida 82, Louisiana State 77

Florida's resurgence and subsequent move back into the NCAA Tournament picture took a hit Saturday as the Gators fell flat against Georgia, losing 61-55 to a team that entered the matchup on a nine-game skid. The loss halted the Gators' own five-game winning streak, but they have a chance to regroup and make a much-needed statement Wednesday against No. 10 LSU, which comes to town looking to avenge its last loss, 82-77 in overtime to Florida two weeks earlier.

"I don't know about motivating," Tigers head coach Will Wade said to the media about the earlier loss to the Gators. "We've got what we've got in front of us here, and this is the next game against a very good Florida team. We've got to play the next one and play as hard as we can and certainly play better than we did in the first game against them. I look at it more as a challenge of, can we get better against these type teams? That's the No. 1 challenge." The Tigers have won three straight since that home loss to Florida, including a 74-69 win over Alabama Saturday that pushed their road record in league play to 8-0, equaling the school mark (1980-81) of eight SEC road wins. No doubt, LSU, which is tied for the conference lead with Tennessee, didn't see the earlier loss to Florida coming and may have taken Mike White's inconsistent troops too lightly since they had yet to beat a ranked team, just as the resurgent Gators may have overlooked Georgia and lost some of their edge. Florida blew a shot at sole possession of the fourth spot in the conference and a winning record in league play, but it can still impress the NCAA selection committee with a win in either or both of their final games against two teams (LSU and Kentucky) in the hunt for the conference title.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT LSU (24-5, 14-2 SEC): All five starters -- Skylar Mays (18 points), Naz Reid (16), Kavell Bigby-Williams (10), Tremont Waters (10) and Marlon Taylor (10) -- hit double digits in the first meeting with Florida, but the Tigers turned the ball over more (14) than in any of their last seven games and the Gators wound up scoring 21 points off those miscues. LSU also struggled from the free-throw line in that contest, hitting 16 of its 25 attempts (64 percent), its worst percentage in league play until it put up a 14-of-22 effort (63.6 percent) against Alabama last time out. LSU is trying to win its first regular-season conference title in 10 years, and the Tigers have outscored opponents 657-601 in its last eight road games, averaging 82.1 points while allowing 75.1 per game.

ABOUT FLORIDA (17-12, 9-7): The Gators continue to lead the SEC in scoring defense (63.1 points, 16th in the nation) but they gave up more points to LSU in the first meeting (77) than they allowed in the eight other games in February and March, albeit in an overtime contest. Senior guard Jalen Hudson continues to be a big part of the story down the stretch and he was the only Gator in double figures against Georgia (13 points), but he was just 4-for-13 from the field and the team as a whole shot 37.5 percent (18 of 48), its worst showing in five games. The home finale will honor seniors KeVaughn Allen (team-high 21 points), Hudson (15) and Kevarrius Hayes (10), who combined for 46 points in the first meeting with LSU, but freshmen Andrew Nembhard, Keyontae Johnson and Noah Locke give the team hope for a bright future as they have accounted for 37.9 percent of the team's scoring this season.

TIP-INS

1. LSU leads the series 63-47 but Florida is 4-1 in the four seasons with White at the helm.

2. The Gators are just 4-4 at home in SEC play, their worst season since going 3-5 in 1996-97.

3. Waters leads LSU with 47 3-pointers, hitting 33.1 percent of his attempts.

PREDICTION: Florida 70, LSU 68