National Basketball Association
Florida 72, Mississippi St. 47
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 10, 2015
Where: Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Florida
Officials:
# James Baker, # John Hampton, # Antinio Petty
Attendance:
11966
By SportsDirect Inc.
Florida 72, Mississippi State 47: Eli Carter had 20 points off the bench and made four 3-pointers as the host Gators crushed the Bulldogs in SEC play.
Dorian Finney-Smith had 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and he pulled down six rebounds for Florida (9-6, 2-0 SEC), which finished with 19 assists compared to eight for the Bulldogs. Devin Robinson chipped in 12 points and Kasey Hill had seven with seven assists.
Roquez Johnson paced the Bulldogs with 11 points and five boards while Gavin Ware recorded six points and eight rebounds for Mississippi State (7-8, 0-2), which has lost eight of the last 10 games. I.J. Ready and Fred Thomas had 10 points apiece.
Finney-Smith helped the Gators pull away early with seven points during a 14-3 run in the first half as Florida went into the locker room up 39-19 at the break. Mississippi State chipped away at the deficit with the first four points of the second frame, but the Gators responded with five of their own to extend the gap to 21.
Carter, who knocked down a pair of triples in the first half, added a third with 12:40 to play and Finney-Smith poured in seven more points as the lead reached 29. Thomas tried to spark a comeback for the Bulldogs with 10 points in just over four minutes but it was already too late.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Florida reinstated suspended F Jon Horford on Friday, but he did not play against Mississippi State. Horford and freshman walk-on guard Zach Hodskins were suspended Wednesday for conduct detrimental to the team. Hodskins remains suspended. ... Finney-Smith reached double figures in scoring for an eighth straight game. ...Mississippi State finished with 15 turnovers, 10 of which came in the first half.
Top Game Performances
Mississippi St. |
|
Florida |
Roquez Johnson 11 |
Scoring |
Eli Carter 20 |
I.J. Ready 5 |
Assists |
Kasey Hill 7 |
Gavin Ware 8 |
Rebounds |
Dorian Finney-Smith 6 |
Roquez Johnson 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Eli Carter 4 |
Travis Daniels 1 |
Steals |
Kasey Hill 2 |
Fallou Ndoye 1 |
Blocks |
Dorian Finney-Smith 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Mississippi St.
|
47 |
38.6 |
5-11 |
8-13 |
8 |
27 |
3 |
5 |
15 |
Florida
|
72 |
52.8 |
9-22 |
7-12 |
19 |
25 |
4 |
10 |
7 |