Florida Gators
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Mississippi State
Men's Basketball Falls to Mississippi State, 68-59
Sunday, March 2, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Speights led Florida with 20 points and 10 rebounds, recording his third straight double-double and eighth of the year. Calathes added 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Junior guard Walter Hodge (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) chipped in 11 points while freshman forward Chandler Parsons (Casselberry, Fla.) contributed eight points and six rebounds off the bench.
After trailing by 13 points late in the first half, the Gators (21-8, 8-6 SEC) trimmed the lead to 41-36 just after halftime following a layup by Calathes at the 14:10 mark in the second half.
The Gators cut the double-digit lead to 58-52 on Speights' putback with about three minutes remaining. Florida's final comeback bid was put out by a trey from Hansbrough and a dunk by Varnado with one minute remaining as the Bulldogs stretched their lead into double digits.
The Gators held their own against the Bulldogs' frontcourt on the glass as both teams had 40 rebounds.
Florida shot 36 percent from the field with Speights connecting on eight of his 15 attempts, but was unable to get in a rhythm behind the arc, hitting 28 percent (7-of-25) of its three-point shots.
UF outscored Mississippi State in the second half, 32-29, and made just one less field goal than the Bulldogs.
Florida held Mississippi State's leading scorer, Jamont Gordon who came in averaging 17.6 points per game, to just four points on 1-of-8 shooting.
Mississippi State's Jarvis Varnado finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots. Hansbrough tied Speights for the game-high total with 20 points.
The Gators conclude their SEC schedule at home by hosting top-ranked Tennessee at 9 p.m. on Raycom.
