Postgame Notes: State at Florida

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State trimmed a 17-point second half deficit down to six in the closing minutes before Florida emerged with a 79-70 decision to drop to 13-6 overall and 2-4 in SEC play.
The Bulldogs grabbed a 15-10 edge with 11:20 remaining on a Josh Hubbard traditional three-point play.
Florida answered with 13 of the next 15 points to grab a 23-17 advantage at the 7:44 mark. Ahead 28-27 with 3:44 left, the Gators used another surge to take a 43-34 lead into the locker room.
Florida took its largest advantage of 17 points on multiple occasions, the latest at 66-49 with 7:22 to go.
The Bulldogs charged back to within single digits after consecutive three-pointers courtesy of Shawn Jones Jr. and Shakeel Moore 46 seconds apart to make it 66-57 at the 5:46 mark.
State got as close as 69-63 with 3:15 on the clock. The Gators made all 10 of their free throws down the stretch to close out the 9-point win.
Florida has won two of the last three in the series and holds an overall 68-53 series edge.
State sank 18 of its 29 baskets on the interior and outscored the Gators by a 36-28 margin in paint points.
State grabbed 22 offensive rebounds but only were able to dial up a 16-14 advantage on second-chance opportunities.
The Bulldogs tucked away a 46-41 rebounding advantage and have won the battle of the boards in 15 of 19 games this season.
State fired off a 40-8 edge in bench points and has outscored its opponents in 15 of 19 outings this season. In those 15 aforementioned contests, the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents by a 527-192 margin.
State connected on 29-of-75 from the floor (38.7 percent), sank 8-of-33 from three-point territory (24.2 percent) and hit on 4-of-9 at the charity stripe (44.4 percent).
For the season, State has drained 142 three-pointers which ties the 2008-09 and 2010-11 squads for 6th-highest in program history through 19 games.
Conversely, Florida turned in a 27-for-64 shooting effort (42.2 percent), hit on 8-for-25 of its three-pointers (32.0 percent) and produced a 17-for-20 clip from the free throw line (85.0 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Tolu Smith III

Started in 89 of his 92 career games at State.
Chipped in 10 points, 10 rebounds and a steal.
Turned in his 3rd double-double of the 2023-24 season and tallied 18 of his league-best 28 double-doubles versus SEC competition.
Extended his run to 25 consecutive games in double figures dating back to last season.
Registered his 31st career performance of 10+ rebounds.

D.J. Jeffries

Started 84 of 87 career games at State.
Managed 6 points, 7 rebounds and a block.
Marked his 13th outing of the season and 66th career performance of 5+ rebounds.

Cameron Matthews

Started 52 of the team's 53 games over the last two seasons.
Provided 9 points and a team-leading 11 rebounds.
Grabbed 10+ rebounds for the 3rd outing in 2023-24 and 9th career outing.

Dashawn Davis

Started 47 consecutive games and 48 of 50 games at State that he's played in.
Dished out 4+ assists for the 10th outing of 2023-24.

Shakeel Moore

Made 55 of his 57 career starts while at State and has started the team's last 11 games.
Secured 5 points, 2 assists and a steal.
Recorded a steal in 76 of 108 career games.

Bench

Josh Hubbard collected a game-high 26 points which marked his fifth 20-plus point outing off the bench this season.
The 5 games of 20-plus points off the bench is the most over the past 35 seasons passing Darryl Wilson's mark of four set during the 1993-94 season.
Produced double figures in 16 of 19 games this season.
Amassed 281 total points which is 5th-most for a freshman in program history through 19 games and the most since Rickey Brown (1976-77).
Registered his 16th game of the season with 10+ points off the bench which equals Eric Stevens (1991-92) for 2nd-highest dating back to the 1988-89 season.
Knocked down 5+ treys for the 4th time this season.
Drained 53 of his 88 field goals from beyond the arc (60.2 percent).
Matched a season's best with 4 rebounds.
Shawn Jones Jr. tacked on 9 points on 4-of-5 shooting and added a steal.
The 9 points is his 2nd-highest scoring output of his career.
Trey Fort finished with 5 points and an assist.
22 of his 33 field goals have come from beyond the three-point line (66.7 percent).
Jimmy Bell Jr. secured 5 rebounds, a steal and a block.
Marked his 12th outing of the season and 36th career performance with 5+ rebounds.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: State at Florida

Players Mentioned

Jimmy Bell Jr.

Dashawn Davis

Trey Fort

Josh Hubbard

D.J. Jeffries

Shawn Jones Jr.

Cameron Matthews

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

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