Men’s Basketball: Mississippi State’s road woes continue in loss to Florida

Mississippi State beat Florida at its own game Wednesday night, but the Bulldogs only had the opportunity to do so because they missed so many shots.

The Gators, who pull down the second-most offensive rebounds per game in all of men’s college basketball, lost that battle as MSU had a 22-15 edge on the offensive glass. A big chunk of that, though, was due to the Bulldogs having far more opportunities for offensive boards than their opponents. MSU finished 8-for-33 from 3-point range and had its second-worst overall shooting percentage of the season in a 79-70 loss.

Freshman Josh Hubbard led all scorers with 26 points, but was just 5-for-17 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Florida’s size bothered the Bulldogs (13-6, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) in the interior, as MSU missed 12 layups. Tolu Smith and Jimmy Bell Jr. even briefly shared the floor for the first time all year in an attempt to limit the Gators’ bigs.

“We were in a position where him taking a contested 3, maybe, (was) our best option at times,” head coach Chris Jans said. “It’s no fault of his that he was put in a position where you’re trying to get him to get shots and try to give us a chance to get back in the game.”

Smith finished with the minimum requirements for his second consecutive double-double — 10 points and 10 rebounds — but he too was inefficient, going 5-for-12 from the floor, turning the ball over four times and fouling out in the closing seconds.

The Bulldogs led by as many as five points early before Florida (13-6, 3-3) began to take control late in the first half. Will Richard matched Hubbard nearly bucket for bucket, finishing with 23 points on a much more efficient 8-for-15 from the floor and 4-of-7 from distance. He also had significantly more help than Hubbard — three other Gators finished in double figures, and Florida as a team was 17-for-20 at the foul line compared to a paltry 4-of-9 for MSU.

The Gators opened up a 17-point lead in the second half, making a late Bulldogs rally mere window dressing. MSU did go on a 14-3 run to pull as close as six points behind, but the visitors eventually needed to resort to fouling, and Florida put the game away at the free throw line to keep the Bulldogs winless in true road games.

Still without Andrew Taylor and KeShawn Murphy for personal reasons, MSU had a starter at less than full strength in Shakeel Moore, who has been dealing with an illness this week and did not practice or participate in the pregame shootaround. Moore played 19 minutes and made just two of eight field goal attempts, but was one of just two Bulldogs with a positive plus/minus, along with Cameron Matthews.

MSU returns to Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday for a key matchup with No. 8 Auburn, which suffered its first SEC loss Wednesday night at rival Alabama.

Mississippi State men’s basketball