Florida at Mississippi State, 8:30 pm

Florida at Mississippi State

 
* When: Saturday, 8:30 p.m. (ET)
* Where: Humphrey Coliseum / Starkville, Miss.
* Records: Florida (10-8, 3-3) / Opponent (12-6, 1-5)
* TV: ESPN (Paul Sunderland and Joe Kleine)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD (Sean Kelley and Lee Humphrey)

Projected Starters

The Breakdown

Setup / Series / Last Meeting

Florida and Mississippi State face off in Saturday’s Southeastern Conference nightcap. The Gators, in search of their third true highway win, had a season-best three-game successful snapped Wednesday in a 54-52 loss at Texas A&M, a recreation they performed from behind all through following a disastrous first-half taking pictures efficiency, solely to fall brief within the closing seconds. The Bulldogs, who received their first 11 video games of the season and ascended to No. 15 within the Associated Press rankings, have dropped six of seven and sit in a four-way tie (with LSU, Ole Miss and Arkansas) for final place within the league standings. Their final outing was a Tuesday defeat at ninth-ranked Tennessee, the place they had been held to 33-percent taking pictures by the nation’s No. 1-rated protection. … For UF, the sport represents a Quadrant 1 alternative, in line with NCAA Evaluation Tool metrics, as MSU sits at No. 56 and effectively inside the Top-75 Q1 threshold for a real highway recreation. … Florida leads the all-time sequence 66-52, having damaged State’s three-game successful streak of their final assembly. The Bulldogs got here to Gainesville on Jan. 19, 2022, because the Gators had been with out injured ahead Colin Castleton (shoulder), and a handful of men stepped as much as style an 80-72 victory. Fifth-year ahead Anthony Duruji scored a career-high 22 factors, together with 18 within the second half, plus 5 steals, with fellow fifth-year and level guard Tyree Appleby tossing in 17 factors and 5 assists to guide a second-half comeback from eight down with simply over 9 minutes to go. Using a 2-2-1 press that utterly flustered the Bulldogs, the Gators completed the sport on a 23-8 run, keyed by a sequence of a mid-court steal and “and-1” end by Duruji, adopted by a 3-pointer from freshman guard Kowacie Reeves (career-best 14 factors) to ship the house crowd right into a tizzy. Fifth-year guard Phlandrous Fleming Jr. had 10 factors, 5 assists and three rebounds. … UF has misplaced two straight in Starkville, with the Gators’ final win there coming in 2017. 

Tale of the Tape

Team Snapshots

The Gators

They’ve been among the finest defensive groups within the nation for the reason that begin of the SEC season, holding 5 of their first six opponents to underneath 40 %, with the lone outlier a 41.7-percenter from Missouri final weekend in a recreation the Gators received. That’s nice and positively one thing to hold a hat on, however Florida has undermined that protection with extreme taking pictures woes

that often manifest themselves in a single half. Take Wednesday night time, for instance. Better but, do not. UF would like to overlook about making simply two of 26 photographs from the ground by way of the primary 20 minutes at A&M, particularly contemplating the group fought again instantly out of the locker rom and was within the recreation the whole second half, thrice closing inside two factors, as soon as inside one. Coach Todd Golden needed to file it away with another irritating halves and an incapability to shoot the ball, notably from the 3-point line. The date with the Bulldogs, although, will pit two groups with comparable identities, so far as offensive struggles and elite defenses with a rim protector. … The recreation can be Golden’s fourth SEC outing of the final 5 pitting him in opposition to one other coach in his first season at a league college. Golden is 3-0 in these video games, with a fifth coming subsequent week in opposition to South Carolina. … Last weekend, Colin Castleton posted a line rating of factors/rebounds/assists/steals/blocks unmatched by a SEC participant since LSU’s Ben Simmons in 2016. At A&M, he turned in a line rating of factors/rebounds/blocks not seen since Kentucky’s Anthony Davis in his group’s NCAA championship 2012 season. Now what? Castleton is enjoying like a first-team All-SEC performer and continues to hold the group on each ends of the ground, however may use a bit assistance on the perimeter. … What to make of backup wing Kowacie Reeves, who stays the group’s No. 3 scorer regardless of going simply 2-for-28 from the 3-point line (7.1 %) in SEC play. Don’t the legislation of averages finally have kick in? His profession share is 31.0. … Guard Myreon Jones acquired his first begin of the season at A&M and joined Castleton because the lone UF participant in double-figure scoring with 10 factors. He’s averaging 9.7 during the last 4 video games (practically double his season’s common) and continues to make successful performs and good selections with the ball. … Guard Will Richard approaching offensively, however took one thing of a step again in lacking six of eight photographs and 4 of 5 3s. … Point guard Kyle Lofton has gone seven straight video games with out getting greater than three assists and has simply two during the last three video games, but the UF offense has appeared as in-sync because it has all season. Can’t get assists with out making photographs, proper? … Forward Alex Fudge had seven factors and eight boards at A&M, however was 2-for-11 from the ground and 1-for-7 at the rim, with a pair misses at essential junctures within the second hald. His coaches maintain telling him to stop messing round and dunk the basketball. … Freshman guard Riley Kugel hit a pair enormous 3s within the second half Wednesday (and in addition missed an incomprehensible and wide-open bunny within the first half, including to UF’s frustrations) and has labored his percentages as much as 43.0 general and 39.3 from deep. Save the Missouri recreation, when he turned the ball 5 instances (all within the first half), he is finished a lot, significantly better defending the ball, with simply a single giveaway final recreation and not more than two in his different three league outings. 

The Bulldogs

It’s their first season underneath Coach Chris Jans, who got here from New Mexico after posting a 122-32 document, with three NCAA Tournament appearances, together with a first-round victory final yr. The Aggies received 4 regular-season Western Athletic Conference titles and three postseason tournaments throughout Jans’ time. … State opened the season with 11 straight wins, with two high-

high quality wins over Marquette and Utah to seize the Fort Myers Tip-Off Classic. In their closing recreation earlier than beginning league play, nonetheless, the Bulldogs had been overwhelmed by Drake in a semi-neutral web site date at Omaha, Neb., then went into their tailspin. To be honest, 4 of their 5 SEC losses have come in opposition to three of the league’s energy groups in Alabama, Auburn and twice to Tennessee. … MSU used a principally gentle non-conference slate to roll up a pleasant document and a few spectacular metrics, particularly on protection, however in six SEC video games the Bulldogs have allowed 45-percent taking pictures general and 38 from the 3-point line. Offensively, they’ve shot simply 36 % from the ground and 25 from distance. … Forward Tolu Smith has been one of many largest and most constant low-post gamers within the SEC since transferring into the league from Western Kentucky in 2020. He’s taking pictures 57 % on the season, however like his teammates has dipped in opposition to league competitors, right down to 45.2. Smith has posted double-doubles in every of the previous two video games, and earlier this season put up 16 factors and 16 rebounds in opposition to Utah within the championship recreation at Fort Myers, garnering match MVP honors. Smith’s numbers could be a lot larger if he improved on his 53-percent taking pictures at the road, the place he is been a team-high 126 instances, greater than twice as many because the next-closest Bulldog. … Forward D.J. Jeffries is in his second season since transferring from Memphis and is 48 factors shy of reaching 1,000 for his profession. He’s at 37-percent on the season and is tied for team-high in 3-pointers with 22, however at solely 28.9 %. If he is across the basket it will not be a nasty thought to foul him, what together with his 55-percent taking pictures from the road, which is barely marginally higher than Smith. … Guard Dashawn Davis, by means of Oregon State, led the Pac-12 in assists final season at 5.2 per recreation. He’s had at least 5 in solely three video games this season at MSU, however look no additional than the Bulldogs’ collective incapability to hit photographs (sound acquainted?). Too dangerous Davis cannot cross to himself. He’s 40.7 from deep, which is by far the very best on the group from the arc. … Backup guard Shakeel Moore (8.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg), who transferred from North Carolina State three years in the past, is the No. 3 scorer and principally performs starters minutes (21.9) off the bench. He had 20 factors within the loss at UT and went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. … Wing Cameron Matthews is in his third season as a real Bulldog. He’s taking pictures 44 % from the ground, however is simply 4-for-25 from the 3-point line (16.7 %). … After Jeffries and Davis, every with 22 makes from distance, Eric Reed is subsequent with 19. He was at Southwest Missouri final season. … Jans solely introduced certainly one of his gamers from New Mexico State: 6-11, 265-pound ahead Will McNair (3.7 ppg, 3.5), who performs about 14 minutes per. He began 27 of his 28 video games for the Aggies, together with each NCAA Tournament video games final season. 

Numbers of Note

* .792 — Jans’ successful share in these 5 seasons at NMSU, together with an .831 mark in WAC play, primarily based on a 64-13 document.

* 2 — Blocked photographs wanted by Castleton to maneuver into the highest 5 on the Florida all-time listing. Castleton has 174 and with 5 would transfer previous Andrew DeClercq (1991-95) at 178, and positively is in hanging distance of Joakim Noah (2004-07) at 186 and Al Horford (’04-07) at 189. He’s most likely not catching Kevarrius Hayes (2015-19) at 214 and positively not Dwayne Schintzius (1986-90) at 272.

* 7 — Points wanted by Castleton (1,019 factors) to maneuver previous Chris Chiozza (1,025 from 2014-18) and into 53rd on the varsity’s all-time scoring listing. 

* 38 — Days since Reeves hit at least two 3-pointers in the identical recreation (in opposition to Ohio at Tampa on Dec. 14. That was at least two hairstyles in the past, however the Gators are telling Reeves to maintain firing away. 

* 2017 — Last yr the Gators received at “The Hump” in Starkville. It was a 57-52 slugfest, because the Gators, in successful an eighth straight and bettering to 12-2 in SEC play, started life after the crushing season-ending harm to 6-11, 260-pound middle John Egbunu 4 nights earlier at Auburn. Hayes, then a sophomore, acquired his first begin of the season and fell some extent shy of his first profession double-double (9 factors, 10 rebounds). 

 

Bottom Line

Has anybody appeared at the schedule within the close to future? As in subsequent weekend (at No. 11 Kansas State) and the 2 weeks after that (at residence in opposition to No. 9 Tennessee, at Kentucky, then at No. 2 Alabama)? Gators want this win.