LSU basketball had to dig deep once it fell behind by as many as eight points in its Southeastern Conference matchup against No. 2 Florida on Saturday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU had fallen in every other previous matchup with a ranked team this season, and the result was the same against the Gators — a 79-65 defeat.
An unusual suspect led the Tigers’ comeback attempt in freshman Robert Miller.
“Rob Miller really has invested a lot of time,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “You see him getting better and better every time he goes out there. And his skill level was on full display tonight.”
Stepping up when needed
Typically, the Tigers offense is run through senior guard Cam Carter who averages 17.3 points per game. It was a different story for the guard against the Gators. He was bottled up from the start of the game and only scored seven points on the night.
“Obviously, he was a huge key to our scouting report and the thing about Cam is he’s a really good individual offensive player that, at times, doesn’t need set actions or plays to be effective,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “I thought our guys did a great job of just making it hard on him, and every look he got was contested.”
With Carter locked down, Miller did the heavy lifting for the Tigers, especially in the first half when according to McMahon his team played their best eight minutes of defense all season. On the glass, the 6-foot-10, 220-pounder led his team with 10 rebounds. Offensively, he was just as effective, knocking down two clutch 3-pointers to help give his team a halftime lead.
In the first 20 minutes, he scored 16 points with six of those points from deep. He ended the night notching a career-high 19 points.
“I’d say mainly my coaches and my teammates just talking to me and just instilling the confidence in me to go out there and do what I know how to do,” Miller said of his career night.
Miller’s efforts weren’t enough
The Tigers went into halftime riding the momentum from Miller’s stellar first half and with a 37-31 lead. That cushion wasn’t be enough against the Gators, who kicked it into high gear in the second half.
Rebounding unraveled for the Tigers in the second half as they were outhustled for almost every 50-50 ball. They ended the game outrebounded 48-33 with Florida’s sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu leading the Gators. He finished the game with a double-double and a game-high 13 rebounds.
“I feel like it was pretty difficult but I feel like we just got to work on boxing out, getting on a body early,” Miller said when asked about rebounding against Florida’s front court.
The rebounding advantage and untimely turnovers for the Tigers spoiled Miller’s breakout game and marked LSU’s sixth loss to a ranked opponent this season.
REQUIRED READING: LSU basketball vs. No. 2 Florida final score: Tigers run out of gas against the Gators
What’s next?
LSU will be back at home on Tuesday taking on Tennessee at 8 p.m. The Tigers are in search of their fourth SEC win of the season.
Shannon Belt covers high school sports and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her high school and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ShannonBelt3. Got questions regarding HS/UL athletics? Send them to Shannon Belt at sbelt@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU basketball’s Robert Miller shines in loss vs No. 2 Florida
