The Mississippi State Bulldogs snapped a three-game losing streak on senior night by winning a hard fought, emotional 80-71 game against the Florida Gators at the Hump Wednesday.
Head coach Rick Stansbury said he was proud of his team’s ability to bounce back from a tough loss.
“The thing tonight that I thought our kids did, we played with emotion,” he said. “We played with great effort. When you play hard and you play to win, good things happen.”
The Bulldogs scored 26 points off the bench tonight after coming back from last Saturday’s game scoring zero.
Sophomore Phil Turner said the team is focused on playing one game at a time.
“Saturday at Ole Miss is a big game for us, but not for any other reason other than it’s our next game,” he said.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with 10 lead changes as a direct result from hard effort from both teams.
With 10:44 left to play in the first half, Turner stole the ball, leading to a three point shot by sophomore Riley Benock that gave the Bulldogs a 21-20 lead. From that point forward, the Gators never reclaimed the lead from the Bulldogs, who protected it with excellent defense.
Freshman Dee Bost would not give Florida standout guard Nick Calathes any room to earn his average of 18.4 points. Calathes finished the game with 11 total points.
To start the second half, the Bulldogs came out playing hard and gradually extended their lead. With sophomore center Jarvis Vanardo double teamed as he was for much of the game, that gave the opportunity for a layup from senior Barry Stewart, extending the score to 46-34 with 16:53 left to play.
Freshman guard Twany Beckham earned valuable ballhandling experience while Bost took some rest. Beckham made an assist to sophomore Elgin Bailey as he beat the shot clock with a turnaround jumper bringing the score to 64-51 with 8:30 left in the game. Shortly after, Bailey went for a rebound and came down hard, resulting in a severely dislocated ankle.
Bailey came back to the floor later in the half with his ankle wrapped, earning a standing ovation and the crowd chanting his name.
Seniors Brian Johnson and Christopher Gay also received applause as they finished their final game in Maroon and White.
Sophomore Ravern Johnson led the Bulldogs with 15 points while Vanardo followed with 13.
The win takes the Bulldogs to 18-12 (8-7 SEC), tying the Bulldogs for fifth in the SEC standings and third in the West, one and a half games behind Auburn. Florida drops to 21-9 (8-7 SEC) which ties the Gators with MSU and Kentucky for fifth in the SEC and tied for third in the East.
“We have something on the line next week with our biggest game. We want to make sure we go out there with the same intensity and we want to leave with a W,” Stewart said. “It’s coming down to the wire and a lot of people think we might not be in the postseason, but if we keep winning and take it one game at a time, we will be alright.”
The Bulldogs will travel to Oxford on Saturday, March 7 play Ole Miss at Tad Smith Coliseum. This will finish off the regular season for both the Bulldogs and the Rebels.
The Rebels beat Mississippi State in their last meeting, 67-63 in Starkville Jan. 31. Entering the game, MSU leads Ole Miss by a game for third place in the Western Division.
The winner Saturday will earn the West No. 3 seed in the SEC tournament and face Georgia March 13, while the loser faces Vanderbilt in the first round. An MSU win coupled with an Auburn loss to LSU would tie the Bulldogs for second in the West with Auburn, who holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.