Mississippi State
13-6,2-4SEC
Florida
13-6,3-3SEC
Dawgs Drop Road Tilt At Florida
January 24, 2024 | Men's Basketball
State falls 79-70.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Josh Hubbard continued his productive freshman season with another prolific scoring performance, but Mississippi State couldn't overcome a late first half run by Florida, falling to the Gators 79-70 at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
The Bulldogs and Gators exchanged leads five times in the first half, but Florida closed out the final five minutes of the period with a 15-7 run to go into the break ahead 43-34 on the way to victory.
Hubbard drained five 3-pointers and scored a team-high 26 points. It was his fifth time scoring 20 or more in the Maroon and White. He scored 16 in the first half and went toe-to-toe with Florida junior Will Richard, who put up 23 points and nine rebounds.
Richard was one of four Gators in double figures. Walter Clayton Jr. and Zyon Pullin scored 15 apiece with Tyrese Samuel providing 12 points and eight rebounds.
Mississippi State trailed by as many as 17 in the second half but cut it to 69-63 at the 3:14 mark behind a 14-3 run fueled by a pair of triples by Shakeel Moore and Shawn Jones Jr. The Gators outscored the Bulldogs 10-7 to close out the game, scoring all 10 points from the free-throw line.
Florida shot 42.2 percent from the field, 8-for-25 from deep and 17-for-20 from the charity stripe while Mississippi State made 38.7 percent of its field goals, eight of its 33 3-pointers and four of its nine free throws. The Bulldogs won the rebounding battle 46-41, with Tolu Smith III contributing his third double-double of the season. Smith scored 10 points and collected 10 rebounds. Cameron Matthews added nine points with 11 rebounds.
Mississippi State now sits at 13-6 on the season and 2-4 in Southeastern Conference play.
The Bulldogs will look to bounce back at home this weekend in Saturday's matchup against No. 8 Auburn in Humphrey Coliseum. Tip time is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on SEC Network.
