Humphrey Coliseum (capacity: 10,575), Starkville, MS 8:00 p.m.
Broadcast Information
TV: ESPN2; Dave Lamont (play-by-play) and Kara Lawson (analyst)
Radio: WRUF/Gator IMG Sports Network; Mick Hubert (play-by-play) and Mark Wise (analyst)
Streaming: ESPN3.com
Head Coaches
University of Florida: Billy Donovan (401-160, 17th season at Florida; 436-180 overall, 19th season)
Mississippi State: Rick Ray (7-10, 1st season at Mississippi State/overall)
Probable Starters
Florida Gators
#5 Scottie Wilbekin (6'2", 176 lbs JR) Season stats: 8.9 ppg, 4.8 apg, 2.8 rpg, 1.9 steals per game
#1 Kenny Boynton (6'2", 190 lbs SR) Season stats: 13.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.8 apg
#3 Mike Rosario (6'3", 183 lbs RS-SR) Season stats: 12.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg
#33 Erik Murphy (6'10", 238 lbs SR) Season stats: 12.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg
#4 Patric Young (6'9", 249 lbs JR) Season stats: 11.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.8 blocks per game
Bench
#15 Will Yeguete (6'7", 240 lbs JR) Season stats: 6.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg
#20 Michael Frazier (6'4", 200 lbs FR) Season stats: 5.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg
#25 DeVon Walker (6'6", 191 lbs FR) Season stats: 0.9 ppg, 0.9 rpg
Mississippi State Bulldogs
#4 Trivante Bloodman (6'0", 182 lbs SO) Season stats: 5.7 ppg. 3.3 rpg, 2.7 apg
#0 Jalen Steele (6'3", 194 lbs JR) Season stats: 10.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg
#32 Craig Sword (6'3", 189 lbs FR) Season stats: 9.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg
#3 Colin Borchert (6'8", 231 lbs JR) Season stats: 6.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg
#20 Gavin Ware (6'9", 270 lbs FR) Season stats: 8.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg
Bench
#25 Roquez Johnson (6'7", 210 lbs SO) Season stats: 10.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg
#1 Fred Thomas (6'5", 191 lbs FR) Season stats: 10.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg
#24 Tyson Cunningham (6'3", 194 lbs JR) Season stats: 2.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg
Injury News and Team Notes
- Junior forward Casey Prather (high ankle sprain) will be out until the end of next week. "We'll probably re-evaluate him after this weekend," Coach Donovan said. "My feeling is, it would not be to the end of next week. That would probably be the point we would expect him back." The Gators have home games against South Carolina (Wednesday) and Ole Miss (Saturday).
- Freshman guard Braxton Ogbueze (knee) missed Wednesday's game. Kevin Brockway reports that he will be available tonight.
- The Bulldogs average an SEC-high 17.9 turnovers per game (they had 29 in Wednesday's loss to Arkansas).
- According to Kevin Brockway, "After winning its first two SEC games, Mississippi State has lost its last three games by an average margin of 24.3 points."
- Coach Donovan talking about Mississippi State's defense: “You are going to see 2-3 zone, 1-3-1, aggressive man-to-man. They play extremely hard.”
- Brockway: "Florida ranks third in the nation and first in the SEC in scoring defense, holding opponents to 51.4 points per game. The Gators have held nine opponents under 50 points and 13 opponents under 60 points."
- Brockway: "Senior forward Erik Murphy ranks first in the SEC in 3-point shooting percentage at 45.7 percent (32-of-70)."
- Brockway: "Kenny Boynton made his 300th career 3-pointer against Georgia, becoming just the seventh player in SEC history to reach the mark."
- Brockway: "The Gators are playing their fourth road game in their last five games and have played nine of their last 12 away from the O'Connell Center."
- Brockway: "(The Gators) will be going for their eighth straight victory, which would match their longest winning streak since starting the 2009-10 season 8-0."
- According to Chris Harry, "The Gators have played games in three time zones...(and) crossed the Mississippi River three times." (total of more than 14,000 miles traveled)
- Harry: "The Gators are the only conference team to play four of its first six league games on the road."
- UF's margin of victory in it's five SEC wins is 24.8 points.
- Interesting how the Bulldogs' top-2 scorers (Johnson and Thomas) come off the bench.
- The Bulldogs dress seven scholarship players (Cunningham is a walk-on).
- Even though Ole Miss narrowly escaped with a win versus Tennessee on Thursday, they, along with Florida, remain the SEC's two undefeated teams in conference play.
- Mississippi State is 5-2 at home this season; losses were against Troy (season-opener) and Alabama A&M.
- Florida is 7-2 on the road this season.
Florida: Defeated Georgia (away) on Wednesday, 64-47.
Mississippi State: Lost to Arkansas on Wednesday, 96-70.
Florida All-Time Versus Mississippi State
Florida is 58-49 all-time versus Mississippi State, including 11-8 under Donovan. The Bulldogs have won four of the past six meetings. Florida is 4-4 on the road at MSU under Donovan (20-34 all-time). Interestingly, six of the last seven games against the Bulldogs have been decided by single digits.
Last Meeting Between Schools
On January 28, 2012, the Gators defeated the Bulldogs, 69-57, in Gainesville. Freshman guard Brad Beal led the Gators with 19 points, one of four double-digit scorers for the Gators.
What I'm Wondering
1. I think the overriding theme from Wednesday's game was how flat the Gators came out in the first half. Luckily, they outscored UGA by 20 in the second half to win comfortably. The key for tonight's game is to get off to a quick start. "The Hump" can get loud really quick, regardless of what the Bulldogs' record is. They are known to have "white-outs" when they play host to ranked SEC schools. Will the Gators get off to a better start compared to Wednesday?
2. The Gators only had 11 assists in the win versus Georgia on Wednesday. Donovan stated earlier in the season that he wanted his team to get more assists on made field goals. As a team, they're averaging 14.6 assists per game. Will the Gators prove that Wednesday's game was an anomaly in terms of the number of assists?
3. Mississippi State has a rotation of eight players, and they only dress nine (two are walk-ons). If the Gators are able to get some of the Bulldog players in foul trouble, it could be interesting to see what develops. Will the Gators try to exploit the Bulldogs' lack of depth?
Records to be Broken in the Near Future
- Kenny Boynton (1,815 points) is third on the all-time scoring list (Ronnie Williams leads with 2,090 points)
- Boynton (300 threes) is the all-time leader in three-pointers made in school history
- Boynton (122 games started) is just 7 starts away from passing Andrew DeClerq (128 starts) for the all-time record in school history
- Boynton (4,043 minutes played) is 58 minutes from passing Eugene McDowell for second on the all-time list.
- Patric Young (101 dunks) is two dunks away from passing Andrew DeClerq for sixth on the all-time list.
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