At the Buzzer: Florida 62, Mississippi State 51 (Instant Analysis)
Friday, January 31, 2014 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
FLORIDA 62, MISSISSIPPI STATE 51
WHAT HAPPENED: As has been their pattern this season, a sluggish first half on the road gave way to a better second and solid finish, as the third-ranked Gators woke up at intermission Thursday night and took out the host Bulldogs at Humphrey Coliseum. Senior forward Casey Prather led UF with 16 points and seven rebounds, while senior center Patric Young shook off first-half foul trouble to score 12 points and grab eight rebounds. Michael Frazier, who started 0-for-6 from the 3-point line, hit his last six from long distance, including a big one with 2:28 to go that pushed Florida's lead to double digits.
WHAT IT MEANS: UF remained the lone unbeaten team in SEC play, upped its lead atop the league standings to two full games over Kentucky and Ole Miss and won a fourth straight conference road game. Even better, the Gators' next three games are at home, where they've won a school-record 26 straight games.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Chris Walker ... and he wasn't even here. No explanation necessary.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: The two teams combined to go 9-for-25 from the free-throw line. That's a woeful 36 percent. Fortunately for the Gators, they were on the 8-for-19 side (42.1 percent) to the Bulldogs' 1-for-6 (16.7 percent).
SUBPLOT: The Gators won back-to-back games at “The Hump” for the first time since the 2001 and '03 seasons and have now defeated the Bulldogs four straight for the first since since winning 12 in a row in the series from 1984-89.
UP NEXT: For the second straight weekend, the Gators (18-2) have a two-day SEC turnaround. They'll return home tonight and be on the court Friday afternoon prepping for a Saturday game against Texas A&M (12-8, 3-4) at the O'Connell Center. The Aggies have dropped four straight league games, but they did win at Tennessee to open SEC play.
