Mississippi State Game Box Score MVG: Erik Murphy

[GatorJason]

Erik Murphy led a balanced attack as the Gators got back on track, defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs 83-58 at the O'Dome. Murphy used his sweet outside shooting to score 17 points to go with 5 boards, an assist, a steal and no turnovers for 78 value credits. Michael Frazier II got his first start and did well scoring 11 points with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and no turnovers to tally 73 value credits. Michael Rosario once again was the Gators leading scorer with 18 points and 4 rebounds to ring up 60 value credits.

The Gators mixed things up this game as they learn to play without Will Yeguete. Frazier got his first start, Casey Prather played well in 22 minutes and DeVon Walker contributed solid defense in 8 minutes of play. Coach Donovan also experimented with a small lineup of guards and small forwards that showed a lot of quickness on the offensive side but gave up more transition points on the defensive end. The Gator defense was challenged with the play of 6-9 270 Gavin Ware who scored at will in the paint. Overall it was a low risk game to experiment as the Bulldogs only suited up 8 players and were easily overmatched by the Florida Gators.

Coming up on Tuesday is a much anticipated game against the Kentucky Wildcats led by freshman sensation Noel Nerlens. Can the Gators find another physical low post presence to support Patric Young on defense and rebounding? The Kentucky game will provide a glimpse of how the Gators continue to make adjustments to compensate for the lost physicality and quickness provided by Will Yeguete.

Box Score Value Leaders:
Murphy........78
Frazier.....'...73
Rosario....'...60

Click on this link to see all player value scores for this game

Game day pictures by Jaggator start at post 169.

Value Credits* are assigned as follows:
+5 credits for each Steal and Assist
+4 credits for each Point scored, Rebound and Block
.-5 credits for each Turnover
.-2 credits for each Field Goal Attempt
.-1 credit for each Free Throw Attempt

* Value Credits are based solely on Box Score data and do not reflect total game contributions by players

Mississippi State Game Official Box Score

The Gators next game will be against Kentucky on Tuesday, Feb 12th at 7:00. ESPN-850AM WRUF

[gatorbogey]

liked that we had 5 players in double figures.
MF2 really ignited our shooting in the 1st half.
Rosario was a major contributor too.

[HALLGATOR]

After the Arkie game not having any TOs was a big plus. Always appreciate your doing these.