A true testament to an elite program is how it responds to adversity. It’d be hard to find a team that’s become more familiar with this than Florida, a squad that has had a starter out in each of its last two games.
On Tuesday, it took only 30 seconds for the Gators to be without yet another. But much like championship-level teams do throughout the aforementioned adversity, UF rallied, bounced back and hardly missed a beat.
During Florida’s first offensive possession of the game, UF sophomore forward Alex Condon rolled his ankle on the foot of a defender and went to the locker room, unable to apply pressure on his own right foot.
Nevertheless, down two starters, No. 3 Florida (21-3, 8-3 SEC) opened the second half with a red-hot shooting stretch en route to becoming the first team in program history to knock off back-to-back ranked opponents on the road.
The Gators came away with a 81-68 victory over No. 22 Mississippi State (17-7, 5-6 SEC) in Starkville to improve to six wins in their last seven games.
Florida junior guard Denzel Aberdeen tied his career-high with 20 points on 3-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. Senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. followed with 19 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Sophomore forward Thomas Haugh rounded out UF’s leading scorers, nearly securing a triple-double with 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Perhaps a bit shaken up from watching another starter leave the floor, the Gators were neck-and-neck with the Bulldogs for the entire first half. However, Florida took a 10-3 lead less than four minutes in via five straight points by Haugh and a layup from sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu.
Mississippi State cut it to 15-13 with a 2-point jumper by sophomore guard (and leading scorer) Josh Hubbard at the 13:34 mark. A pair of free throws from senior guard Claudell Harris Jr. over three minutes later gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game, 19-17.
In the final 10 minutes of the first half, neither side led by more than five points. But Aberdeen kept the Gators afloat with a go-ahead 3-pointer and a free throw that gave UF a 24-22 edge. Following more back-and-forth action to close out the first half, the Bulldogs took a 34-33 advantage into the break.
UF wasted little time messing around with Mississippi State to open the second half. The Gators rattled off a massive 17-0 run out of the break in less than five minutes, largely behind a barrage of 3-pointers from senior guard Will Richard, Aberdeen, Clayton Jr. and Haugh.
A dunk by MSU junior forward KeShawn Murphy ended UF’s scoring run at the 14:59 mark However, Clayton Jr. responded 18 seconds later with another 3-pointer to put the Gators back in control.
Florida’s lead grew as large as 24 with 7:11 on a 3-point shot from Aberdeen. From there, the Bulldogs’ deficit never went below 13 points for the remainder of the game.
It was a bit of a slow start offensively for the Gators. But, in sharp-shooting and high-flying fashion (much like Florida has shown all season long), the Gators shot 8-of-16 from distance in the second half after a 6-for-20 outing from 3-point range in the first. UF subsequently finished with a 39% clip for the game.
Defensively, UF held MSU to 41% (24-of-58) from the field and 26% (7-of-27) from behind the arc. Richard and Aberdeen were most notable for the Gators on that end with two steals each, while Haugh snagged two steals of his own and tallied two blocks.
Next up, Florida will play a home game for the first time in 11 days. UF is set to host South Carolina on Saturday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center at 8:30 p.m.
Contact Max Tucker at mtucker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @Max_Tuckr1.
Max Tucker is a senior transfer student at UF. After obtaining his A.A. in Journalism from Santa Fe College in 2023, he chose to further his education at Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. Max is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a specialization in sports and media. He enjoys golfing and going to the beach with his friends in his free time.
