Florida Gators

WHAT HAPPENED: Senior guard Quinndary Weatherspoon slashed through the paint, dropped in a layup and was fouled with 3.6 seconds to play, with the basket and subsequent free throw being the difference in the 24th-ranked Bulldogs' win Tuesday night at Humphrey Coliseum. Weatherspoon, the league's fourth-leading scorer, hit his game-winner after UF freshman Noah Locke tied the game on a six-footer with 10.2 seconds left. After a timeout, Weatherspoon went the length of the floor, knifed through the paint and got to the rim way too easily, hitting the shot and drawing a blocking foul on Gators senior center Kevarrius Hayes. Weatherspoon hit the free throw and after a timeout, Florida guard KeVaughn Allen raced up the floor and missed a desperation game-tying 3-point attempt at the horn, sealing the Gators' second straight Southeastern Conference defeat. UF fell behind by seven early, but worked back to take a three-point lead with inside six minutes left in the half when Mississippi State guard Lamar Peters took off on an 11-point by himself, with his first three shots coming on 3-pointers, as MSU built an eight-point lead. The Gators cut it to two by halftime, then in the second half the two teams tied or swapped the lead 14 times before the wild final seconds. That's when Aric Holman hit a layup with 24 seconds left and Locke grabbed the loose ball and hit his tear drop to tie the game with inside four seconds to go. Then came "Q". Allen led the Gators with 17 points, followed by freshman point guard Andrew Nembhard's 13, Locke's 12 and freshman forward Keyontae Johnson's 11. Weatherspoon only had nine for the Bulldogs, just over half of his average, but five of them came in the final five minutes. Peters led his team with 16 points, all in the first half. 
 
WHAT IT MEANS: A second straight SEC defeat (against a second straight ranked opponent) drops the Gators deeper into the league standings. UF has now lost three of its first four conference contests for the first time since the 2000-01 season, when the Gators rallied under Coach Billy Donovan to go on and win the league's regular-season crown with a 12-4 mark. If it's any consolation (and it's not), five of Florida's seven losses have come by seven points or less and all but the season-opening blowout at Florida State have been one-possession games inside the final two minutes. 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Johnson, the 6-foot-5 rookie forward, hit two huge 3s late in the first half after the Gators fell behind by eight points to fuel an 8-2 run to close the half, with Johnson's treys the start and end of the run. He had a big offensive rebound with 2:55 left that he pitched out to Allen for a 3 the gave the Gators a temporary lead. He was on the court for a career-high 25 minutes and deserved to be, finishing 4-for-6 from the floor, 3-for-4 from deep to go with four rebounds. If he can play with the type of intensity he showed throughout the game (an issue for him this season), Johnson will play a whole lot more the rest of the season. Maybe even get a start at the "4" spot next time out. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: Mississippi State came into the game shooting 38 percent from the 3-point line, third-best in the SEC. Florida came in defending the arc at 30.3 percent for the season, also third-best in the SEC. The Bulldogs got the better of that pivotal matchup by nailing 10 of 17 from deep. That's 58.8 percent. The Gators hit the same number of 3s, but on 14 more attempts (32.3 percent). 

UP NEXT: Florida (9-7, 1-3) is back on the SEC road Saturday for a noon tip-off at Georgia. The Bulldogs (9-7, 1-3) were beaten 69-49 Tuesday at home by 12th-ranked Kentucky.