After defeating Mississippi State (13-6, 2-4 SEC) 79-70 inside the Stephen O’Connell Centre on Wednesday, the Florida Gators advanced to 13-6 (3-3 SEC). With their victory over the Bulldogs, Todd Golden’s team added a crucial quad-two victory to their record, even if they are still in search of that defining quad-one triumph.
Before this game, the Gators were ranked 41st in KenPom, and Mississippi State was ranked 36th. The Bulldogs were ranked as the ninth seed in the NCAA Tournament by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, while the Gators were regarded as the “next four out.” Even though there is still a lot of basketball remaining, there’s a chance that these two teams will compete for a postseason berth at the conclusion of the season, which would add to the sweetness of Florida’s victory against Mississippi State.
Will Richard’s commanding opening half
My player of the game was junior guard Will Richard, who scored a team-high 23 points on 8-15 from the floor and 4-7 from three-point range. Georgia native Richard scored eighteen of his twenty-three points in the first half, helping Florida take a nine-point advantage into the intermission.
Richard added two blocks, two steals, nine rebounds (four offensive), and one point less than his career high of 24 points.
Regarding Richard’s play, Golden remarked, “I think he had his best game as a Gator tonight.” “He gave us some second-chance opportunities early in the game, which helped us score some points and get some momentum.”
He played a really fantastic game for us tonight. He keeps growing more at ease as he enters SEC competition. He has been playing really well, so I anticipate that he will keep doing so.
With a plus-minus of nine, Richard had the second-highest for the Gators throughout the game (behind Riley Kugel, 10).
Richard stated after the game, “[I was] just taking what the defence gave me.” “I was just trying to find myself in the right places, not trying to force anything.” I was just trying to get open and get shots to get into a rhythm, even though I know [Zyon Pullin] found me a lot of them.
Restricting Tolu Smith
Before this SEC game, the star power of Mississippi State’s forward, Tolu Smith, was a hot topic of discussion. In addition to his career average of 24 points against Florida, he has been dominating opponents since recovering from injury this season. In his last four SEC games, he had scored at least 15 points in three different games: 23 against Tennessee, 26 against Kentucky, and 25 against Vanderbilt.
The biggest surprise, arguably, was that Florida only allowed the 6’11, 245-pound forward to try two free throws (0–2) while holding him to 10 points on 5–12 shooting. Smith was ranked No. 1 in the SEC in 2023 for free throw rate, according to KenPom. In the game, Smith also committed four turnovers and five fouls.
“He got us a little early, but we doubled him and made him see bodies every time he had catches, and we felt that if we didn’t let him get as close to the rim as he wanted, that would run them off the line. That’s about as well as anybody’s guarded him all year, you know. In regards to limiting Smith, Golden stated, “He only shot two free throws.”
He was troubled by the double; Golden continued. “It just made him less aggressive on his catches going to the rim. Boss him, force some turnovers.”
Despite recording a double-double during the game, Smith didn’t seem to have much of an impact until the final few minutes of play.
The Bulldogs’ late surge
With 8:51 remaining in the game, Florida had a 17-point lead. However, with 3:15 left, Mississippi State went on a 14-3 run to decrease Florida’s advantage to just six points. Florida appeared to have abandoned their aggressive playmaking approach while enjoying a comfortable lead on their home court.
Regarding the Bulldogs’ surge in the second half, Golden remarked, “We got caught in an area where we want to break the press; we want to stay aggressive, but at the same time, you got a big lead; you don’t want to be too aggressive.”
Golden said, “To their credit, they played the last eight minutes of the game with no fear of failure.” We became a little more rigid. I have to make sure my boys know that I want them to keep attacking and being aggressive.
Florida made just one of their last ten shots and failed to score in the closing four minutes of play as a result of their lack of offensive aggression. But Florida survived this one because of the Gators’ free throw shooting, which has struggled at times this season.
To end the game, Florida made 10 of their final 11 free throws, including eight in a row.
Regarding Florida’s late-game free throws, Golden stated, “They were very critical.” “Condo never lets them get extremely tight in the last four minutes, as you guys mentioned, and makes his eight to ten free throws down the stretch to ice it.”
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