After defeating Ole Miss on Saturday night, the Florida Gators basketball team (11-6, 3-2 SEC) has turned ito sights to the matchup with Mississippi State (7-9, 0-4 SEC) on Tuesday, January 18 at 7 p.m. in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
The Gators are 61-49 against the Bulldogs all-time including going 38-12 at home in Gainesville. Needless to say, Florida has a home advantage especially considering this will be their first time playing at home after three consecutive road games.
Florida Notables:
– KeVaughn Allen is coming off another outstanding game. He scored 27 points, shooting 9-for-11 from the floor including 6-for-7 from the 3-point range.
– Allen is also the first Gator freshman since Matt Walsh (2002-2003) to have a 30-point game and another 25-point game.
– Justin Leon continues to produce for the Gators and has emerged as a star of conference play.
– Dorian Finney-Smith has made a double-double for two straight games and all three of Florida’s SEC road games. His latest was a 17-point, 10-rebound showing at Ole Miss.
– Chris Chiozza is leading the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio with 50 assists and just 7 turnovers this season. He finished with a career-high 9 assists on Saturday night at Ole Miss.
Mississippi State Overview:
Mississippi State has been struggling in conference play and has not been able to win a SEC contest this season (0-4) after putting up a 7-5 mark in non-conference play. The Bulldogs have a lot of returning players headlined by Gavin Ware who averages 17.1 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, shooting .636 from the field.
Freshman Malik Newman (12.7 ppg) and senior Craig Sword (12.6 ppg) are also averaging out in double digits, with Newman making 34 3-pointers this season.
Game Predictions:
The Gators’ probable starters are Dorian Finney-Smith, Justin Leon, John Egbunu, KeVaughn Allen and Chris Chiozza. These five have started the last five consecutive contests, including all of their SEC matchups.
For the Bulldogs to take down the Gators at home, they will need to take away their transition play where they have been excelling this season. Where Mississippi State does excel is at the free throw line – an area where Florida has been notoriously inconsistent.
In order to keep the momentum that Florida picked up off of their win over Ole Miss, they will need to limit the amount of trips that they give up to the charity stripe and shut down the Dogs’ offense.
What this game means:
For the Gators, this win would set the pace for their series of consecutive home games. The for of their next five and six of their next eight games will be held in the O’Connell Center in Gainesville.
As for the Bulldogs, this win would give them their first conference win, and on the road. This would be huge for their program and give them the opportunity to put themselves on the map for the SEC.
Check out the game for yourself in Gainesville or on ESPNU on Tuesday, January 18 at 7 p.m. As always, be sure to follow along with us here at GatorCountry.com on our message boards during the game for an inside look.