Freshman guard Antonio Blakeney scored a career-high 32 points to lead LSU to a 96-91 victory over Florida on Saturday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.

Freshman forward Ben Simmons had 22 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals for LSU (17-12, 10-6 Southeastern Conference). Junior guard Tim Quarterman scored 15 points, sophomore guard Jalyn Patterson had 11 and sophomore forward Craig Victor II added 10.

Sophomore center John Egbunu scored 22 points for Florida (17-12, 8-8). Sophomore forward Devin Robinson chipped in with 15 points and senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith had 14.

LSU led 10-2 less than two minutes into the first half and went up 20-8 on a jumper by Blakeney. Florida mounted a 15-0 run to take a 23-20 lead, but a dunk by Simmons sparked a 13-2 spurt for LSU.

The Tigers carried a 40-29 lead into the locker room at the break, went up 48-31 early in the second half and extended its lead to 18.

The Gators stormed back to cut the deficit to two on a free throw by Egbunu with 31 seconds remaining, but Blakeney made eight free throws in the final 29 seconds to help the Tigers hold on.