Thursday, February 8
Gainesville, Fla.
6:00 PM
Mississippi State
at
Florida
No. 2 Bulldogs Head To Florida For Thursday Tilt
February 07, 2018 | Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Second-ranked Mississippi State seeks to continue a historic start as it heads to Gainesville for the second matchup of the season against the Florida Gators.
The Bulldogs own the nation's longest active win streak at 24-0 and are one of the two undefeated teams in the country.
State stayed atop the SEC standings as it ran its league record to 10-0 with a 67-53 win against No. 6 South Carolina on Monday in front of a Humphrey Coliseum-record crowd of 10,794.
Thursday's game will be an online stream only through the SEC Network +. It can be found at WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.
Jason Crowder and Charlie Winfield will broadcast the game on the MSU Radio Network, with a free audio stream available at HailState.com/Plus and the TuneIn app.
The teams meet just two weeks after the Bulldogs claimed a 90-53 win in Starkville on Jan. 25. Teaira McCowan led MSU with 23 points in that game, while Victoria Vivians tallied 17 and Blair Schaefer 15.
Vivians paced State's win against South Carolina with 24 points, raising her season average to an SEC third-best 19.6 ppg. The Carthage, Miss., native is fourth in league games with 19.4 ppg.
McCowan set the MSU single-season rebound record as she grabbed her 318th of the year with 20 boards against the Gamecocks. The SEC's fourth-highest scorer at 19.3 ppg also paces the league on the boards with 13.3 rpg for the season and 14.3 rpg in league games.
Schaefer has been stellar for MSU the last five games, reaching double digits in four of those games. In that stretch, she is averaging 14.0 ppg and shooting 51.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.
GAME INFORMATION
Opponent: Florida
Location: Gainesville, Fla. (Stephen C. O'Connell Center)
Date: Thursday, February 8
Time: 6:02 p.m. CT
Television: SEC Network + (PxP – Kyle Crooks; Analyst – Brittany Davis)
Where To Watch: WatchESPN.com or WatchESPN App
Listen: MSU Radio Network and HailState.com/Plus (PxP – Jason Crowder; Analyst – Charlie Winfield)
SERIES HISTORY
FLORIDA (Florida leads 25-22)
At MSU: MSU leads 14-8
At Florida: UF leads 13-7
At Neutral Sites: UF leads 4-1
Last 10 Meetings
1/25/2018 W 90-53 H
1/12/2017 W 82-49 H
1/3/2016 W 76-70 A
2/15/2015 W 75-62 H
3/6/2014 L 67-71 N
1/2/2014 L 72-82 A
1/10/2013 L 55-61 H
2/23/2012 L 45-79 A
2/20/2011 L 63-78 A
1/30/2011 L 60-67 H
BULLDOG BITES
LAST TIME OUT FOR MSU...
GET TO KNOW THE OPPONENT
The Bulldogs own the nation's longest active win streak at 24-0 and are one of the two undefeated teams in the country.
State stayed atop the SEC standings as it ran its league record to 10-0 with a 67-53 win against No. 6 South Carolina on Monday in front of a Humphrey Coliseum-record crowd of 10,794.
Thursday's game will be an online stream only through the SEC Network +. It can be found at WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.
Jason Crowder and Charlie Winfield will broadcast the game on the MSU Radio Network, with a free audio stream available at HailState.com/Plus and the TuneIn app.
The teams meet just two weeks after the Bulldogs claimed a 90-53 win in Starkville on Jan. 25. Teaira McCowan led MSU with 23 points in that game, while Victoria Vivians tallied 17 and Blair Schaefer 15.
Vivians paced State's win against South Carolina with 24 points, raising her season average to an SEC third-best 19.6 ppg. The Carthage, Miss., native is fourth in league games with 19.4 ppg.
McCowan set the MSU single-season rebound record as she grabbed her 318th of the year with 20 boards against the Gamecocks. The SEC's fourth-highest scorer at 19.3 ppg also paces the league on the boards with 13.3 rpg for the season and 14.3 rpg in league games.
Schaefer has been stellar for MSU the last five games, reaching double digits in four of those games. In that stretch, she is averaging 14.0 ppg and shooting 51.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.
GAME INFORMATION
Opponent: Florida
Location: Gainesville, Fla. (Stephen C. O'Connell Center)
Date: Thursday, February 8
Time: 6:02 p.m. CT
Television: SEC Network + (PxP – Kyle Crooks; Analyst – Brittany Davis)
Where To Watch: WatchESPN.com or WatchESPN App
Listen: MSU Radio Network and HailState.com/Plus (PxP – Jason Crowder; Analyst – Charlie Winfield)
SERIES HISTORY
FLORIDA (Florida leads 25-22)
At MSU: MSU leads 14-8
At Florida: UF leads 13-7
At Neutral Sites: UF leads 4-1
Last 10 Meetings
1/25/2018 W 90-53 H
1/12/2017 W 82-49 H
1/3/2016 W 76-70 A
2/15/2015 W 75-62 H
3/6/2014 L 67-71 N
1/2/2014 L 72-82 A
1/10/2013 L 55-61 H
2/23/2012 L 45-79 A
2/20/2011 L 63-78 A
1/30/2011 L 60-67 H
BULLDOG BITES
- Mississippi State remains 1 of 2 unbeaten teams in the country after defeating No. 6 South Carolina on Monday.
- The win also improved MSU to 10-0 in SEC play. The Bulldog seniors have won 10 SEC games all four years. State had only won 10 league games once prior to 2014-15.
- A Humphrey Coliseum-record crowd of 10,794 watched Monday's game, the largest crowd for a basketball game in the state of Mississippi.
- State held USC to a season-low 53 points. The last 5 games MSU is allowing 52.0 ppg, .384 FG% and .232 3FG%.
- The Bulldogs lead the SEC in scoring offense (83.1 ppg) and scoring defense (55.4 ppg).
- MSU is 1 of 3 teams (Baylor, UConn) to rank in the Top 11 in the nation in offense (11th) and Top 20 in defense (16th).
- In SEC games, MSU also tops in the league in offense (78.5 ppg) and defense (56.7 ppg).
- After forcing 17 turnovers Monday, State is 2nd in the SEC forcing 20.1 turnovers per game.
- MSU's 11.2 turnovers per game is 3rd-fewest in Division I.
- Victoria Vivians and Teaira McCowan were both named to the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 on Monday.
- With her 20th rebound on Monday, McCowan set the MSU single-season rebounding record (318).
- Vivians notched her 12th 20-point game of the year on Monday. She has reached double figures in 23 of MSU's 24 games this season.
- The last 5 games, Blair Schaefer is averaging 14.0 ppg and shooting 51.1% from the floor, 50% from 3-point range.
- Morgan William rates 2nd in DI in assist/turnover ratio (4.1).
- Jazzmun Holmes' 8 assists Monday are her SEC career high.
LAST TIME OUT FOR MSU...
- In a rematch of last season's national title game, MSU erased a 12-point second-quarter deficit to defeat No. 6 South Carolina 67-53. After trailing by 10 after the opening quarter, the Bulldogs out-scored the Gamecocks 19-8 in the 2nd to take a 29-28 lead. State took the lead for good with a 28-9 4th quarter that saw MSU hold South Carolina to 3-of-15 (20%) from the field.
- Vivians scored 20 of State's 29 1st-half points en route to ending the night with 24. Schaefer netted 14 while Teaira McCowan tallied 9 points to go with 20 rebounds.
GET TO KNOW THE OPPONENT
- Florida brings a 10-13 overall record and 2-8 SEC mark into Thursday's game. The Gators have lost their last 3 contests, including a tough 66-64 setback at No. 15 Missouri on Monday.
- The Gators are paced by 14.2 ppg from Funda Nakkasoglu. She averages 12.3 ppg in SEC play, just behind Paulina Hersler (12.4 ppg) for the team lead.
Players Mentioned
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