On Tuesday night in Gainesville, Florida the Florida Gators basketball team (12-6, 4-2 SEC) battled Mississippi State (7-10, 0-5 SEC) and ended up taking the win by the skin of their teeth at 81-78.
In a game that was predicted to have the Gators in the driver’s seat, Mississippi State came ready to give Florida an upset at home. Despite Florida scoring the first point of the game with a free throw from John Egbunu, Mississippi State came back with back-to-back baskets to give them a three-point lead.
This back and forth action set the pace for the evening and was echoed throughout the rest of the game. Florida caught up for the first time with a 3-ball from KeVaughn Allen to tie it up at 9 with 14:43 to play in the half. However, this would just be the first of six ties that occurred in the first half alone.
In the beginning of the game the Gators and the Bulldogs were shooting a low 33%, but Florida came back to end the half going 13-27 from the field and 6-12 from downtown making for 48.1%.
Dorian Finney-Smith, KeVaughn Allen and John Egbunu produced as usual on offense putting up 20,19 and 16 points, respectively. With Finney-Smith booking his third consecutive double-double in SEC play with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
However, this game they were joined by Devin Robinson who scored a total of 11 points and 5 rebounds. It’s been a while since Robinson has scored in double-digits for the Gators after getting injured and missing the second half of the game against Georgia on January 2.
Even though they had another player step up and produce offensively, the turnover struggles made a strong comeback as they gave up nine in the first half. That, combined with their poor passing game and shot selection are a large part of the reason that Florida struggled their way through the game.
In the end of the back-and-forth half, the Gators did not end up on top as they trailed the Bulldogs at 42-37.
Coming back from the half, the intensity that Florida has had in past games was still not there and Mississippi State took full advantage of that. The Bulldogs were able to get as high as an 11-point lead over the Gators.
That seemed to be just what Florida needed to get fired up and take the game back as Devin Robinson fired off a shot from downtown to cut down their deficit to single digits at 56-48 with 5:08 to go.
From there, the momentum picked up in the Gators’ favor and by 12:44 they managed to tie the game up with a pair of free throws from KeVaughn Allen. Mississippi State refused to go down easy and came back with an and-one. However, Florida used that to fuel their fire as they came back with an 8-0 run ending at 69-61 after a layup from Justin Leon.
Now with momentum on their side the Gators were not ready to let the Bulldogs come back and upset them at home. They managed to pull away to as high as an 8-point lead.
Despite getting some of their intensity back and the momentum swinging in their favor, Florida still managed to let Mississippi State take back the lead once again with just 46 seconds left to play at 78-77.
Those last seconds of the game had Gator fans saying a quick prayer that seemed to pay off as Florida got back in the lead with a pair of free throws from John Egbunu with 41 seconds to go.
The Florida Gators basketball team will be in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Saturday the 23 where they will face the Auburn Tigers. Tip off is set for 8pm on the SEC Network and as always, join GatorCountry.com to follow along for full updates and coverage.