GAINESVILLE — Heading into Tuesday night's game against LSU, Florida coach Billy Donovan said his major concerns were the Tigers' aggressive offense and their ability to score from anywhere on the floor.
Donovan's concerns were valid.
The Tigers had four players in double figures, led by a game-high 22 from Jarell Martin, in a 79-61 victory over Florida at the O'Connell Center, ending a six-game losing streak to the Gators.
It was Florida's worst home loss since a 93-75 defeat to Ohio State on Nov. 16, 2010.
The Gators (10-8, 3-2 SEC) have lost two conference games in a row after winning 24 straight since 2013. They've lost consecutive SEC games for the first time since dropping three in a row late in the 2011-12 season.
Donovan said he's hoping his team will finally start to see — and address — the flaws he has been pointing out since the offseason.
"I'm not surprised at all," Donovan said. "There's nothing here that's surprising to me. … The good part of this right now is when you're a coach in the offseason and you explain these things to a team and they think they're going to be really, really good, it's hard sometimes to get your message through. But now? It's more like wow, this is a lot tougher than I thought."
Florida trailed 37-32 at halftime, having lost the battle from beyond the arc. LSU (14-4, 3-2) shot 62.5 percent from 3-point range in the first half and was 8-of-13 in the game. The Gators finished 3-of-16 from beyond the arc and shot 38.3 percent overall from the floor (23-of-60).
"We have to get better, simple as that," Florida junior forward Alex Murphy said. "We have to play harder, play with more passion and more fire. They played harder than us and executed better than we did. They beat us in all facets of the game."
After sophomore guard Kasey Hill scored on a driving layup to pull the Gators within 52-47 with 12:12 remaining in the game, Florida went six minutes without a field goal, allowing LSU to go on a 12-2 run to take a 64-49 lead. The Gators battled back to within 10 with 3:03 remaining, but ultimately it wasn't enough.
"We fought at the end, but their offense was better than our defense," said junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith, who had 10 points and eight rebounds despite missing practice this week with a hyperextended knee. "It's (lack of) discipline. We came out with no energy. We didn't fight. We didn't protect our home court."
Contact Antonya English at aenglish@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Gators.