Florida Gators

FLORIDA vs MISSISSIPPI STATE  

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m. (EST)
Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.   
Records: Florida (12-7, 4-2); Mississippi State (12-7, 3-3)  
TV: ESPN2 (Karl Ravech, Dick Vitale and Marty Smith) 
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Lee Humphrey) 



THE BASICS
Florida and Mississippi State return to Southeastern Conference play after taking losses in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The Gators got beat up on their home floor by No. 1 Baylor, 72-61, in a game they trailed by double digits for the final 23-plus minutes. The Bulldogs lost a tough one at Oklahoma, 63-62, in a game they led by one with just over four minutes remaining. ... UF currently sits in a four-way tie for third place in the SEC (along with Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee), with MSU a game behind in a four-way lock of seventh place (with Arkansas, Texas A&M and South Carolina). That's eight teams in the jumbled middle of the league standings. ... Florida leads the all-time series, 65-50, but had a string of eight straight wins snapped in the last meeting, as the Bulldogs rallied late for a 71-68 win at Starkville on Jan. 15, 2019. In that one, the Gators blew a five-point lead with less than three minutes to go and lost when MSU guard Quinndary "Q" Weatherspoon, with the game tied at 68, went the length of the floor -- with relatively little resistance -- and converted an old-time three-point play with 3.5 seconds left. UF senior guard KeVaughn Allen, who led his team with 17 points, missed a game-tying 3-ball at the horn. The Bulldogs, ranked 24th at the time and headed for an NCAA Tournament berth, shot 54 percent for the game and hit nine of their 17 shots from the 3-point line. Senior guard Lamar Peters led his team with 16 points, including 4-for-8 from deep, while Weatherspoon, the All-SEC guard, finished with nine points, five rebounds and five assists. ... The Gators are 3-1 against Mississippi State under Coach Mike White.  STARTERS (Probable Lineups)

Florida	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Keyontae Johnson	F	6-5	225	Sophomore	13.1 pts / 6.6 reb
Kerry Blackshear Jr.	F	6-10	232	G-Transfer	14.5 pts / 8.4 reb
Omar Payne	G	6-10	223	Freshman	5.1 pts / 4.5 reb
Noah Locke	G	6-2	193	Sophomore	10.1 pts / 2.9 reb
Andrew Nembhard	PG	6-5	191	Sophomore	11.3 pts / 2.9 reb / 6.2 ast

Mississippi State	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Reggie Perry	F	6-10	250	Sophomore	16.4 pts / 10.1 reb
Abdul Ado	F	6-11	255	R-Junior	5.5 pts / 6.7 reb
Nick Weatherspoon	G	6-2	185	Junior	12.2 pts / 3.2 reb
D.J. Stewart Jr.	G	6-6	205	R-Freshman	8.0 pts / 2.2 reb
Robert Woodard II	G	6-7	235	Sophomore	11.5 pts / 7.5 reb

ONE TO WATCH  
TEAM BREAKDOWNS    ABOUT THE GATORS: UF is looking to snap a two-game losing streak, but entering a run of seven straight games against teams trailing in the early SEC standings. Protecting the home floor, obviously, is huge at this point in the season. … UF is averaging 73.3 points on 45-percent shooting and 40.4 percent from the 3-point line. The team's scoring numbers have increased in conference play to 80.3 point and 47 percent overall. … Despite the back-to-back defeats, KenPom.com still has Florida at No. 36, with an offensive efficiency of 24th and a falling-fast defensive efficiency of 67th that is very disappointing given the demands of the coaching staff. …

Forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. had a rough night against the banging, savvy and live athletic Baylor bodies in the post. He finished with nine points and four rebounds, while attempting only five shots and getting to free-throw line just once. He could be in for more such fun against the relentless, glass-crashing Bulldogs, especially with the way their guards rebound down. … Point guard Andrew Nembhard averaged 15.5 points and dished 18 assists over the last two games, but shot just 1-for-11 from the 3-point line. As a team, UF had just seven assists against Baylor, despite shooting 44 percent. The team was moving the ball better before facing arguably the best defense in the country, but now needs to get back to its rhythmic feel of a couple weeks ago. … Shooting guard Noah Locke had his string of 15 straight games with at least two made 3-pointers snapped Saturday. He went 1-for-4 from deep, but is still at 41.8 percent from the arc for the season. … Forward Omar Payne's field-goal percentage is up to 66.2, but he only took one shot last game (a dunk on an alley-oop) and could not roam the block for his patented stickbacks due to Baylor's prowess on the glass. Mississippi State, at least statistically, is a better rebounding team than Baylor. … Forward Keyontae Johnson had 16 points and five rebounds, but just kind of blended in against the Bears, who put a handful of high-motor guys on the floor with his skill set. … Reserve forward Scottie Lewis played 25 minutes without scoring or grabbing a rebound against Baylor. That's not to say his presence went unnoticed. Lewis was a huge factor on the ball when UF went to its full-court pressure. … Backup guards Tre Mann and Ques Glover combined to score 11 points, but got roughed up on the defensive end. They're learning, though. ... ABOUT THE BULLDOGS: They're 90-63 in five seasons under Coach Ben Howland, a mark that includes a 35-43 record in SEC play, with their a lone trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 ending in first-round loss to Liberty. … The Bulldogs opened the season with five straight wins, courtesy of a light schedule, before taking their first

loss on a neutral floor against 17th-ranked Villanova. MSU also lost at home to a solid Louisiana Tech Team, beat Kansas State on a neutral floor, got beat by New Mexico State (bad loss) in Jackson, Miss. After starting the SEC slate with consecutive losses to Auburn, at Alabama and at LSU, the Bulldogs ran off a trio of victories over Missouri, Georgia and Arkansas — all at home — before the tough road loss at OU. The wins over Mizzou and UGA were by 27 and 32 points, respectively. They're playing the best basketball of their season. …  MSU is scoring 72.7 per game, while shooting 45.9 percent from the floor and 32.9 from 3. Defensively, the Bulldogs give up 64.8 points, 41.3 percent overall and 30.6 from deep. Where they make their hay is on the glass, with a robust plus-8.5 rebounding margin. They have three guys with at least 49 offensive rebounds, including two with at least 63). Note: Blackshear leads UF on the offensive glass with 51 (Payne is next with 43). … KenPom ranks Mississippi State No. 41 overall, including 27th in offensive efficiency and 82nd on defense. The Bulldogs' offensive rebounding percentage of 40.2 is second in the country. … Guard Tyson Carter (13.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, team-best 3.6 apg) has come off the bench of late to give the Bulldogs an offensive spark. He killed the Gators last season with four 3s and his 36 makes from deep lead the team. … Robert Woodard II is listed as a guard, but at 6-7, 230, he's a problem in the post, with 49 offensive boards and defensively on the perimeter with a team-high 27 steals. Woodard is shooting 49 percent overall and a team-best 47.7 from deep, so he's a pick-your-poison guy. … Massive forward Abdul Ado is making 56.5 percent of his shots (with zero 3s attempted) and leads the team in offensive boards with 67 (compared to 61 on the defensive end). … Guard Nick Weatherspoon was suspended for the final 10 games of the '18-19 season, as well as the first 10 of this season. He's responded with double-figure scoring in seven of his nine games since reinstatement, but struggled at Oklahoma in hitting just one of his five field-goal attempts. 


NUMBERS WORTH NOTING   * .142 — Howland's winning percentage in seven games against Florida, based on a 1-6 mark that includes losses in the 2006 NCAA title game, the '07 Final Four, the Round of 32 in '11, and a game each during his first four seasons at Mississippi State. 

* 9 — Years since Florida lost a second straight game to Mississippi State. The Gators fell to the Bulldogs, 75-69, in the 2010 SEC Tournament, then lost at Starkville, 71-64, the following season. 

* 17 — Consecutive games Locke has hit at least one 3-point shot. 

* 20 — Players listed on the Mississippi State roster, including six who are 6-10 or taller. Two games ago, however, the Bulldogs used just seven players in their home win over Arkansas.  

* 312 — Career assists by Nembhard, who along with Nick Calathes (2007-09) is the only player in UF history to hit the 300-assist milestone as a sophomore. 


LAST WORD
This is the start of a seven-game run of games, each of which the Gators figure to go into as favorites. Obviously, they need to capitalize, especially on the home floor. And this one, if not the most difficult, could be the most physical.