OGT-Florida SEC vs. Mississippi State 1/24/2024 8:30 pm SECN

Florida 12-6/2-3 SEC vs. Mississippi State 13-5/2-3 SEC
Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center (10,151) | Billy Donovan Court
Gainesville, Fla. | Game 19 | Jan. 24, 2024 | 8:30 p.m.

BROADCAST INFO
SEC Network | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Mike Morgan
Analyst: Mark Wise

Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley
Analyst: Lee Humphrey
Producer/Engineer: Steve Egan

 

HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
28-23 | 2nd season at UF
85-59 | 5th season overall

Chris Jans
34-18 | 2nd season at Mississippi St.
177-62 | 8th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 67-53
All-Time Home: 41-13
Series under Golden: 1-1
Home under Golden: 0-0
Last Meeting: L/OT, 68-69, 3/9/23 (SEC)

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 27.4 13.6 8.3 1.4 stl
3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 18.8 6.5 7.7 .658 fg%
0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 30.7 14.6 3.3 4.7 ast
1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 29.8 15.8 3.8 2.1 3fg
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 28.5 10.8 3.6 1.9 3fg

OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
0 D.J. Jeffries F 6-7 215 Gr. 28.8 6.9 5.8 1.2 stl
1 Tolu Smith III F 6-11 245 Gr. 25.7 19.7 7.7 .651 fg%
4 Cameron Matthews F 6-7 230 Sr. 27.8 9.1 6.3 2.3 stl
3 Shakeel Moore G 6-1 190 Sr. 21.9 7.7 2.6 2.0 ast
10 Dashawn Davis G 6-2 190 Gr. 23.8 7.0 1.8 3.2 ast

 

DECEMBER
5 Merrimack SEC+ W 77-57
9 vs. Richmond (Sunrise) SEC Net. W 87-76
14 vs. ECU (Lakeland) SEC Net. W 70-65
19 vs. Michigan (Charlotte) ESPN W/2OT 106-101
22 Grambling State SEC+ W 96-57
30 Quinnipiac ESPNU W 97-72

JANUARY
6 #6 Kentucky ESPN L 85-87
10 at RV/#23 Ole Miss SEC Net. L 85-103
13 Arkansas ESPN W 90-68
16 at #6/7 Tennessee ESPN L 66-85
20 at Missouri ESPNU W 79-67
24 Mississippi State SEC Net. 8:30 p.m.
27 Georgia ESPN2 12 p.m.
31 at #6 Kentucky ESPN/2 8 p.m.

FEBRUARY
3 at Texas A&M ESPN2 4 p.m.
10 #8 Auburn SEC Net. 3:30 p.m.
13 LSU SEC Net. 8 p.m.
17 at Georgia SEC Net. 1 p.m.
21 at RV Alabama ESPN2/U 7 p.m.
24 Vanderbilt SEC Net. 1 p.m.
28 Missouri SEC Net. 6:30 p.​

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
1​

Both of last season’s meetings between Florida and Mississippi
State were one-possession games, as the Gators grabbed a two-point
win in Starkville before MSU took a one-point overtime affair at the
SEC Tournament.

5​

Florida expects to face the same five starters as the last meeting vs.
MSU, while the Gators will likely feature just one (Will Richard).

10​

Micah Handlogten has scored second-chance points in 10
straight games, and his 3.4 per game accounts for more than half of
his scoring this season.

 

THE TIP-OFF​

• Florida readies for two home games this week after earning a road win at Missouri on Saturday. Florida and Mississippi State split a pair of meetings last season with the Gators winning in Starkville before MSU took a one-point overtime decision in the SEC Tournament.

• Five Gators scored in double figures in the victory at Mizzou, led by Tyrese Samuel’s 17, while Micah Handlog-ten posted a 10-point, 13-rebound double-double.

• Zyon Pullin not only leads the SEC in assist/turnover ratio (4.1) and rates second in assists (4.9), but has also scored in double figures in all 15 appearances this season.

• Florida has three of the top 10 offensive rebounders in the SEC in Micah Handlogten (3.8), Tyrese Samuel (3.2) and Alex Condon (2.3). Handlogten averages 3.4 second-chance points per game, getting more than half of his points from the offensive glass (54 of 104).

2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS​

• Florida picked up a road win at Missouri, led by Tyrese Samuel’s 17 points and a double-double from Micah Handlogten (10 points, 13 rebounds). The Gators matched a season-low by committing just eight turnovers.

• Five Gators in double figures highlighted UF’s win vs. Arkansas, as Riley Kugel scored 20 points off the bench to lead the way and Tyrese Samuel added a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

• Zyon Pullin scored 22 and Tyrese Samuel posted 21 points and 11 rebounds in the Gators’ double-overtime victory vs. Michigan in Charlotte. Pullin’s 3-pointer with 8.9 seconds remaining in the first overtime forced the second extra session, where an 11-0 UF run put the game away.

• In his homecoming game at Lakeland vs. East Carolina, Walter Clayton Jr. exploded for 20 first-half points on the way to a team-leading 22. Clayton scored 10 of the Gators’ first 12 points out of the gate playing just down the road from his hometown of Lake Wales.

• Will Richard earned Orange Bowl Classic MVP honors as he scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half to lead the Gators vs. Richmond. Richard posted a solo 9-0 run as he hit three 3-pointers in a 90-second span that helped create separation vs. the Spiders.

• Walter Clayton Jr. scored 21 of his 26 points vs. Merrimack in the second half. Freshman Alex Condon added his first career double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds. Condon’s 16 boards were the most by a Florida freshman since Al Horford’s 18 vs. Alabama during the 2004-05 season.

• The Gators topped Pitt in the first game of the NIT Season Tip-Off behind 28 points from Walter Clayton Jr. on 6-for-8 shooting from 3-point range, a 20-point, 10-rebound performance from Tyrese Samuel, and a 24-to-8 assist-to-turnover showing as a team.

• Florida blitzed Florida State, leading 27-5 before taking a 52-22 advantage into halftime. The Gators shot .643 and held the Seminoles to .258 from the field during the first half. Walter Clayton Jr. led UF with 19 points, while Zyon Pullin and Tyrese Samuel added 15 each and Thomas Haugh grabbed 10 rebounds.

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT​

• Like Florida, Mississippi State faced a gauntlet over the first four
games of its SEC schedule, netting a victory against Tennessee in
Starkville.

• MSU got a boost from the return of Tolu Smith, who is putting up
19.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game through six appearances this
season.

• Sixth man Josh Hubbard averages 14.2 points off the bench for the
Bulldogs, knocking down 48 3-pointers this season at a .369 clip.

• Dashawn Davis leads the Bulldogs with 57 assists, while Cameron
Matthews has 32 steals. Jimmy Bell Jr. has added 16 blocked shots.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES​

Jan. 6 at South Carolina L 62-68
Jan. 10 Tennessee W 77-72
Jan. 13 Alabama L 74-82
Jan. 17 at Kentucky L 77-90
Jan. 20 Vanderbilt W 68-55

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Jan. 27 Auburn
Jan. 30 at Ole Miss
Feb. 3 at Alabama
Feb. 7 Georgia
Feb. 10 at Missouri

LAST 20 VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE (12-8)
Jan. 24, 2007 A W 70-67
March 1, 2008 H L 59-68
March 4, 2009 A L 71-80
Feb. 6, 2010 H W 69-62
March 12, 2010 SEC L 69-75
Jan. 29, 2011 A L 64-71
Jan. 28, 2012 H W 69-57
Jan. 26, 2013 A W 82-47
Feb. 9, 2013 H W 83-58
Jan. 30, 2014 A W 62-51
Jan. 10, 2015 H W 72-47
Jan. 19, 2016 H W 81-78
Feb. 18, 2017 A W 57-52
Jan. 10, 2018 H W 71-54
Jan. 15, 2019 A L 68-71
Jan. 28, 2020 H L 71-78
Jan. 16, 2021 A L 69-72
Jan. 19, 2022 H W 80-72
Jan. 21, 2023 A W 61-59
March 9, 2023 SEC L/OT 68-69