Florida Gators
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Mississippi State
Mississippi State hands Florida a 62-52 loss
Saturday, March 9, 2002 | Men's Basketball
ATLANTA – Sophomore reserve Timmy Bowers scored all 17 of his points in the second half as Mississippi State held 12th-ranked Florida to its second-lowest point total of the season en route to a 62-52 victory over the Gators in the Southeastern Conference quarterfinal matchup.
Mississippi State (25-7) held the Gators' top scorers, Udonis Haslem and Matt Bonner, to just seven points apiece.
The SEC’s top two shooting teams struggled from the field with Mississippi shooting 37 percent and Florida shooting 32 percent.
The game got off to a slow start as both teams combined 0-for-9 from the field in the first three minutes. Justin Hamilton canned a three-pointer at the 15-minute mark to tie the game, 5-5. Haslem sat on the bench with two fouls for most of the first half. Florida shot 32 percent (10-of-31) from the field and held Mississippi State to 29 percent (8-of-28). The UF bench stepped up and chipped in nine points to the Gator cause. Florida was up by three, 25-22, at halftime.
Mississippi State went on a 14-4 run to begin the second half. Florida got as close as 40-38 with two free throws by Haslem with 9:30 remaining, but the Gators couldn’t regain the lead. Mississippi State went to the free throw line 22 times, making 16 of their shots. Udonis Haslem’s dunk ended a MSU 8-0 run with 57 seconds left in the game, but Florida was down by 10 (57-47).
Justin Hamilton led the Gators with 13 points and canned a team-high three treys. Brett Nelson was the other Gator in double figure scoring with 10 points.
The Gators (22-8) return home to await their seeding for the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is on Sunday at 6 p.m.
