Despite only four players on MSU’s team making an appearance in the scoring column, Rick Stansbury’s club rallied behind its defense to win a 71-64 battle over the Florida Gators Saturday.
The 64 points allowed are tied for the fewest in any SEC game this season, and the Bulldogs (11-9, 3-3 SEC) held the nationally ranked Gators without a field goal the final 5:40 of the game. Florida’s struggles from the free throw line (9-19) were also a key factor in Billy Donovan’s team leaving Starkville with a loss.
After back-to-back losses to Georgia and Vanderbilt, the Bulldogs faced the possibility of slipping further behind Alabama in the SEC West before traveling to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday.
“I don’t think anybody, anywhere gave us a chance here today,” Stansbury said. “To bounce back in 36 hours and do it against the best team in the SEC, our kids deserve a lot of credit.”
Junior point guard Dee Bost led the Bulldogs in scoring with 24 points, despite needing some serious dental work after taking an elbow to the mouth in the second half of the loss to Vanderbilt. Bost said he will have one of his front teeth pulled Thursday, and in the mean time, it is glued together.
“I knew it was going to come out sooner or later next week, and if it came out during the game, I was going to keep playing,” Bost said.
Stansbury said going into Saturday’s game he was unsure how many minutes Bost would be able to play. However, Bost went on to play 38 minutes and had five assists to go along with his game-high 24 points.
The rest of MSU’s points came from the trio of Kodi Augustus (16), Renardo Sidney (16) and Ravern Johnson (15). The other five Bulldogs who saw action Saturday went a combined 0-10 from the field to complete the rare occurrence of only four players scoring. In contrast, ten players scored for Florida, led by Erving Walker’s 18 points.
The last time a team played a game that saw only four players score was March 12 of last year when Ohio beat Miami (Ohio) 54-42, and MSU has not done it since 1996, the year it went to the Final Four.
Led by 11 early points from Augustus, the Bulldogs took a 25-15 lead at the 11:56 mark in the first half. From there, Florida battled back to tie the game at 38-all with just over three minutes left in the half.
A 3-pointer from Bost put the Bulldogs up by nine early in the second half, but the Gators were able to erase that lead as well, setting up an ending that would come down to the wire.
A layup by Walker put Florida up 63-62 with 5:40 left, but that would be the last field goal the Gators made. State’s last field goal came at the 4:36 mark, leaving the game’s outcome in the hands of its performance at the free throw line.
MSU made seven of its last eight free throws (five from Augustus, two from Bost) to seal the game and give the Bulldogs a 71-64 victory.
“Last game, we started off strong, and it got close in the end, but this game we made all the plays … Whatever we had to do, we did to win this game,” said Johnson, who tied a career high with eight rebounds.
Florida held a significant advantage in the paint, scoring 38 points in the post compared to the Bulldogs’ 16.
State’s biggest post presence, Sidney, had 16 points and eight rebounds. Perhaps more importantly, the sophomore went 6-7 from the free throw line in his 25 minutes of playing time.
“No doubt you felt his presence on the floor tonight … and that’s huge,” Stansbury said. “He demanded some attention down there on the block, and that’s what we need him doing.”
Meeting with the media last week, Bost said his team lacked heart. After a hard-fought loss to Vanderbilt and the win over Florida, the junior from Concord, N.C., hopes that issue is in the past.
“Earlier, we weren’t fighting, but now we’re fighting,” Bost said. “Every game we’re fighting, no matter who it is.”
The Bulldogs will face Alabama Wednesday in a game that has big implications for the SEC West standings. The Crimson Tide took care of the Bulldogs 75-57 in Starkville on Jan. 8, and a season sweep would put the division leaders at a considerable advantage.