LSU Holds On To Win Over Florida, Bob Pettit Statue Unveiled

A part of LSU freshmen helped the Tigers earn a much needed victory on Saturday night at the P-MAC in Baton Rouge, propelling LSU to a 96-91 win over the Florida Gators.

Freshmen Ben Simmons (22 points, 11 rebounds) was good and Antonio Blakeney (32 points) was great, helping the Tigers snap a 3 game losing streak to improve to 17-12 overall and 10-6 in conference play.

It wasn't easy for the Tigers, as has been the case all season. Despite leading by 18 points at the 13:40 mark of the 2nd half, Florida cut it down to 3 several times in the final minutes of regulation.

Blakeney sunk 8 free throws in the final 28 seconds, helping him earn his career-high of 32 points and giving Tiger fans a deep sigh of relief as LSU held on.

The win was a nice exclamation point on a night when LSU unveiled a statue of former Tigers and NBA star Bob Pettit. The 83-year old was in attendance.

With 10 of his grandchildren by his side, Pettit was honored by the gesture.

"I wish I had that many muscles and that much hair," Pettit said of the statue. "My ambition as a sophomore in high school, when I got cut from the team, was to win a letter by the time I was a senior," Pettit said. "That's all I wanted was to win a letter, and here I am this many years later with a statue next to Shaquille O'Neal. I'm very flattered."

Before his 11-year Hall of Fame career in the NBA, Pettit scored 1,916 points for LSU from 1951-1954.