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CHOMP!
Mississippi State (7-8, 0-2) played significantly better than they did in the Tennessee game but Florida, on the road, was too much for the Bulldogs to handle. The Gators (9-6, 2-0) dominated the ballgame from the opening tip. Florida opened the game on a 22-7 run and never looked back. State came out flat for the second consecutive game as the Bulldogs failed to hit double digits until the 7:56 mark of the first half.
The Gators looked flawless in the first half as Florida shot for nearly 63% and it looked as if the Gators were going to hold Mississippi State to just 16 first half points until a miracle half-court shot by Demetrius Houston. The half court heave cut the Florida lead to twenty and was one of the only highlights of the night for the Bulldogs. Even the Florida crowd congratulated the young man on the miraculous shot. Rewatch the shot from the Freshman below.
Despite being doubled up at the half, the Bulldogs came out of the break by scoring the first four points of the half and forced a Florida timeout before the Gators eventually reestablished firm control of the game. Suprisignly, the Bulldogs would find a decent outside scoring threat from Fred Thomas and the team would finish the game with five made three point baskets.
The Bulldogs made 10 second half shots, which by itself is not a tremendous accomplishment, but when you consider that the Bulldogs made a total of ELEVEN shots in the Tennessee loss….It was just nice to see some shots go through the hoop.The Gators led by as much as 29 points before some late "garbage" scores by State cut the Gators' margin of victory to 25 points.
Mississippi State has now lost 20 straight on the road and have lost eight of their last ten games. Rick Ray and the Bulldogs have a real problem outside of the losing streak. The starting five in this game contributed a total of 15 points, with three of the starting five contributing 0 points. That effort isn't good enough to beat a team from the bottom of the SEC much less a team like Florida.
Dawg Facts: Mississippi State starts SEC play 0-2 for the first time since the 2006 season.
What's Next?: Road trip to Texas A&M. Tuesday, 8 P.M CST