To borrow from Dickens, “It was the best of times…”
The No. 7 Bulldogs of Mississippi State (10-2, 0-1 SEC) survived 12 first-half turnovers by holding the No. 11 Florida Gators (12-2, 1-0 SEC) to a scant 37.9 percent from the field and took a 35-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.
“In the first half we took a lot of rushed shots, and I felt that we were fortunate to only trail by six at the half,” Florida head coach Billy Donovan said.
Tuesday’s Southeastern Conference opener proved to be a tale of two halves as Florida chomped back at Mississippi State on the way to posting a 74-66 victory.
The Gators returned to the Humphrey Coliseum hardwood and won the game in the first four minutes of the second half by mounting a 17-4 run making it the worst of times for the second largest crowd in Mississippi State basketball history (10,541).
Much in the fashion of last season, State scratched and clawed to bring the score within three points when senior Derrick Zimmerman picked up his fourth personal foul with 8:30 remaining. Sophomore David Lee made one free throw that began a 10-4 mini spurt while Zimmerman sat.
“I was disappointed because I knew that my next foul would be the end. I always want to be out there and help my team win,” Zimmerman said. “I probably should have tried to take a charge, but I thought I got a clean block on (Lee).”
“The first three to five minutes of the second half, we turned it over too much,” said junior Timmy Bowers, who scored 14 in the loss. “They got up seven, and against a good Florida team it was hard to come back.”
From alpha to omega, the Gators relied on a strong performance from senior Justin Hamilton, whose 22 points led UF. Seniors Matt Bonner and Brett Nelson scored 22 of their 24 combined points in the second half.
“Give Florida a lot of credit,” MSU head coach Rick Stansbury said. “They came in here and did what they had to do to win the basketball game. Hamilton and Bonner stepped up and made plays for them. You’ve got to have that out of seniors on the road.”
Junior Mario Austin led the Bulldogs with 22 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to post his ninth career double-double.
“It was just a game of possessions, and we didn’t make enough plays, or enough stops on defense,” Austin said.
After making five of 10 threes in the first half, MSU missed nine of 10 in the second session. State’s perimeter game suffered down the stretch due to fatigue. Sophomore Ontario Harper, who vomited before and after the team shoot-around, tried to play, but had to leave the game and get IV fluids.
The fatigue eased MSU’s defensive pressure, and UF shot 53.6 percent in the second half.
“I told my team that I thought this was the first time all year that we had been outworked,” Stansbury said. “That is something that we take a lot of pride in.”
“It’s a long season; they all count one win, one loss. Naturally, you don’t like to lose your ballgames at home, but when you do, you’ve got to go make them up somewhere.”
The Dawgs first chance of redemption will be 7 p.m. Saturday at Louisiana State University.
The Tigers return four senior starters from last season’s team that won seven of its final 11 and advanced to the second round of the NIT. LSU opened conference play Sunday with an 89-63 loss at Georgia. The Tigers and Bulldogs both boast 10-2 records entering Saturday’s game. LSU is 9-0 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Forward Ronald Dupree (15.3 ppg) and guard Torris Bright (5.83 apg) will lead the Tigers’ attack. National JUCO player of the year Jaime Lloreda missed Wednesday’s game with a bruised knee but is expected to play Saturday as both programs will be looking to net their first SEC win of the season.