Florida Gators basketball pulls out a tough win at Mississippi State

The No. 15 Florida Gators (22-5, 12-2 SEC) survived a difficult road game with the Mississippi State Bulldogs (14-12, 5-9 SEC) on Saturday. The Gators came out with their usual noon tip mentality, even though it started at 2 p.m.

It was a sluggish day for Florida from the start, as the Bulldogs scored the first five points of the game and held a lead for the first 11 minutes of the game. The Gators looked to be finding some life as they entered the locker room with a 32-24 lead.

After going up by as many as 12 in the second half, Florida’s lead was soon cut to single digits as the defense struggles to get stops and the offense couldn’t find a rhythm. Mississippi State tied the game with 2:24 remaining and looked to be taking control of the momentum.

Kevarrius Hayes, who is taking on the challenge of replacing the injured John Egbunu, came up huge in the final minutes with an offensive rebound and a layup to put Florida ahead 54-52 and later came up with a block to silence the Bulldogs’ rally.

The Gators rode the game out on free-throws the rest of the way, helped along with Mississippi State missing its three-point attempts to win the game 57-52. Florida is now on its longest winning streak of the season with eight in a row.

Chris Chiozza led the Gators with 14 points. KeVaughn Allen was the only other double-digit scorer, with 11 in the game. Kasey Hill’s nine points put him in Florida’s 1,000-point club for his career.

While Hayes was in some foul trouble, with four in the game, the sophomore did well in his first game in the place of Egbunu. He finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and four huge blocks in the second half.

The Gators turned it over 16 times and let the Bulldogs finish with a 36-22 advantage in points in the paint. It was not the best game of the season by any means, but Florida will take a win as it moves into the tough week ahead.

Coming Up Next:

The Gators will welcome South Carolina to Gainesville on Tuesday before making the trip to Kentucky on Saturday. The Gamecocks defeated Florida 57-53 in the last meeting and the Wildcats will look for revenge for the loss suffered to the Gators a few weeks back.

Florida and South Carolina will play at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

 

Bailiegh Carlton
A lifelong sports fan, Bailiegh Carlton knew from a young age that she wanted to work in sports in some capacity. Before transferring to the University of Florida to study journalism, she played softball at Gulf Coast State College. She then interned for Gator Country for three years as she worked toward her degree. After graduation, Bailiegh decided to explore other opportunities in the world of sports, but all roads led her right back here. In her time away, she and her husband welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. When she isn't working, she can almost always be found snuggled up with sweet baby Ridley, Cody and her four fur babies.