At the Buzzer: Ole Miss 62, Florida 61 (Instant Analysis)
Friday, February 13, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
OLE MISS 62, FLORIDA 61
WHAT HAPPENED: At Gainesville, Rebels guard Stefan Moody bombed a 3-point shot with 2.7 seconds left to push visiting Missisippi past the Gators at the O'Connell Center. Moody's game winner came after UF missed a shot to stretch a two-point lead, with the Rebels calling timeout with 18.4 seconds left to set up a play. Ole Miss looked for a drive to the basket, but nothing was there and ended up kicking the ball to Moody, the 6-foot-1 scorer from Kissimmee, who was closely guarded at the top of the key but knocked home the shot anyway. After a timeout, UF forward Jake Kurtz tried to chuck a pass into the Gators' halfcourt for forward Dorian Finney-Smith, but the Rebels intercepted it for the win. It was just three weeks ago the Rebels delivered a gut-punch to the Gators in Oxford, winning 72-71 on free throws with less than four seconds to play.
WHAT IT MEANS: A third straight loss dumped the Gators deeper in the SEC standings and into a tie for eighth place with Alabama. Their sixth conference losses matches the most by a Florida team since 2012, yet with seven more to go. The Gators are also .500 at this point in a season for the first time in Coach Billy Donovan's 19 seasons.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Freshman forward Devin Robinson made just his 13th start of the season -- the first since Jan. 20 vs. LSU -- and played one of the better, more complete games of his young career in finishing with 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting and seven rebounds. Robinson's start came due to junior guard Michael Frazier II being sidelined with a sprained ankle suffered in Saturday night's loss to Kentucky. Frazier is expected to miss at least two more games.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Florida took just two free throws in the second half and just nine for the game. Ole Miss, the No. 2 free-throw shooting team in the nation, only attempted 13, but did make 10 of them.
UP NEXT: The Gators (12-12, 5-6) have their final two-day turnaround of the season, heading to Texas A&M (16-7, 7-4) for Saturday night's SEC date at College Station. The Aggies, very much in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament berth, were beaten Wednesday night at home by Georgia.
