O'Bryant scores 18, LSU falls at No. 1 Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — LSU's road struggles reached a low Saturday.

Johnny O'Bryant III scored 18 points, Jordan Mickey added 14 points and 10 rebounds, but the Tigers were dominated from start to finish in a 79-61 loss to top-ranked Florida.

It was LSU's seventh consecutive road loss — and the most lopsided of the lot.

"You certainly have to bounce back from it," LSU coach Johnny Jones said. "They were hitting on all cylinders. They executed at both ends of the floor. They were great defensively and made big shots. We've just got to pick up the pieces. ... We've got to make sure we minimize our mistakes and make sure that we take whatever positives (we can) from this game and move forward."

Dorian Finney-Smith scored 16 points, and Florida used a season-high 13 3-pointers to overwhelm the Tigers (17-11, 8-8 Southeastern Conference) and extend its school-record winning streak to 21 games. Casey Prather and Michael Frazier II added 14 points apiece for the Gators, who also won their 31st straight at home.

This one was never in doubt.

Florida (27-2, 16-0) scored the first eight points of the game, opened up a double-digit lead with consecutive 3-pointers from DeVon Walker and Finney-Smith and put the game away early in the second half with a flurry of points in the paint.

Prather made three consecutive driving finger rolls after the break. Patric Young had a dunk and then a left-handed hook shot. And Prather followed with a dunk and another driving layup that put Florida up 62-38 with about 11 minutes remaining.

"They're an extremely good basketball team and they shot lights out tonight," Mickey said. "They had 13 3s and were great on defense, so they had it going on both sides."

The Gators clinched the SEC regular-season title Thursday night with Kentucky's loss to Arkansas, and many expected they would ceremoniously celebrate in front of a sellout crowd Saturday.

It was never going to happen. Prather, Young and fellow seniors Scottie Wilbekin and Will Yeguete chose not to cut down the nets.

"We felt it was given to us when Kentucky lost," Wilbekin said. "I was sitting on my couch watching TV. I didn't do anything."

Although Donovan believes his senior-laden team can handle the potential distraction of cutting down nets during the regular season, he figures it's best to stay focused on the goals within reach.

"You want to be playing well this time of year," Donovan said. "When you get to this point in time of the season, you don't want to play like you're trying to protect something, when you're back on your heels, 'We don't want to lose being No. 1 and we don't want to lose at home and we want to keep the streak going.'

"Once you get into trying to avoid things and trying to prevent things from happening, I think inevitably you get tight, you get frozen and you don't play. The biggest thing for us that I've been trying to explain for our guys is there are things out there for us to chase. What are we going to chase? What are we going to go after?"

Florida shot 57 percent from the field and had 18 assists on 31 baskets. Florida's bench outscored LSU's 28-2.

The Gators never trailed in the game, leading 41-25 at halftime and by as many as 29 with 3 minutes remaining. The only lull came in the closing minutes after Donovan emptied his bench.

"It says a lot about the team," Jones said. "They sit there and they've already clinched the championship and for guys to come out and play as motivated and as hard as they did tonight. ... I think when you have a senior team like they are and guys are able to make plays like that and are used to winning, some great things can happen for you."