Florida thrashes Mississippi State 82-47

By Adam Silverstein
January 26, 2013

Making a legitimate case to be viewed as one of the top teams in the country, No. 7/8 Florida Gators basketball (16-2, 6-0 SEC) remained undefeated in Southeastern Conference play with a dominant 82-47 victory over the Mississippi State Bulldogs (7-11, 2-4 SEC) on Saturday at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, MS.

Florida continued its trend of wiping out league opponents with its 35-point rout of Mississippi State. The Gators have now defeated all six of their SEC adversaries by at least 17 points and are averaging a 26.5-point margin of victory in conference play.

Trailing 4-3 early in the contest, Florida put its foot on the gas and rattled off a 28-4 scoring stretch to jump ahead of Mississippi State by 23 points midway through the first half.

The Bulldogs answered by scoring seven-straight points to cut into the Gators’ advantage, but UF quickly got a handle on the situation and built its lead back up to 41-19 by the time the halftime buzzer sounded.

Just minutes into the second half, Florida had already put together another impressive scoring stretch – this time a 15-0 run – to take a 56-21 lead with 15 minutes left to play.

The Gators cruised from that point forward with their primary rotation players remaining in the game until there were five minutes left.

Florida had the four leading scorers in the game with seniors guard Kenny Boynton (7-of-11, 4-of-8 from three) and forward Erik Murphy (6-of-8, 4-of-6 from downtown) each scoring 18 points and juniors center Patric Young (6-for-6) and point guard Scottie Wilbekin (5-of-9, 3-of-5 from beyond the arc) each registering 13 points.

Murphy and Young both added six rebounds, and Wilbekin dished a game-high nine assists. Freshman G Michael Frazier and junior F Will Yeguete led the way with eight boards each; Yeguete added four dimes and two steals to his line.

The Gators outshot the Bulldogs from the field (.564-.327) and downtown (.452-.200) while dominating the rebounding battle with a 44-20 advantage on the boards.

Florida registered 23 assists on 31 made baskets and blocked four shots but did commit 14 turnovers while forcing just nine from Mississippi State.

9 Comments

  1. Andrew says:

    “Florida continued its trend of wiping out league opponents with its 22-point rout of Mississippi State.”

    Or 35. But whatever. It was close.

  2. obgator says:

    I watched the entire game, and I am surprised to see Frazier registered 9 boards. Some of the quietest 9 boards I’ve seen. He’s gonna be a good one for us.

    • gatorboi352 says:

      Yeah I don’t see too much of a drop off occurring next year when Boynton leaves (and that’s no knock on Boynton) but for a 2 guard to register as many rebounds as Frazier II has already AND shoot the percentage that he has from 3? His defense will also be that much better with another year under his belt. We will be just fine at the 2 next year.

  3. VO2max says:

    Thrashes
    Dominant
    Wiping out league opponents

    Superlatives are fun and that game was awesome.

  4. Mr2Bits says:

    To think how much more dominant this team would be if Beal was still around. This is by far one of the most cohesive and hardest teams defensively I have seen. Anything less than a final 4 will be surprising.

  5. Marlex says:

    If I had to nitpick, there were a few too many lazy passes leading to turnovers, but even when we were turning the ball over and letting them score, we didn’t let up offensively and kept it to them, maintaining or increasing the lead.

    Miss St. gave up on the perimeter for the last several minutes, letting the guys shoot 3s like fish in a barrel.

    All around, a very fun game to watch as a Gator.

  6. Joe says:

    I think Billy finally has the type of team he has always wanted. Executes the pick and roll to perfection, will run you out of the gym and stifling defense. Even the 04’s didn’t play with this much relentlessness.

    • gatorboi352 says:

      Can’t entirely agree on your point regarding the 04s, plus the SEC was a little bit better than it is now. Regardless, this team is the real deal and lucky for us the entire country appears to be a little down this year. Final Four or bust? Championship game or bust more like it.

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