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Mississippi State

WATCH: Mississippi State's Shawn Jones Jr. slams home alley-oop to lead Florida in OT

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report•03/09/23
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Mississippi State was pushed to overtime by Florida in its opening game at the 2023 SEC Tournament, but the Bulldogs are taking flight in overtime courtesy of a Shawn Jones Jr. alley-oop.

After Florida guard threw one away underneath its offensive basket, Mississippi State flipped it in transition quickly.

And Jones threw down one of the most vicious slams off an alley-oop in any of the conference tournaments so far. Check it out below.

Florida mounted a rally in the second half after trailing by as many as 14 in the early going, roaring all the way back to force overtime. And the Gators actually nearly won it in regulation.

Myreon Jones had a shot to win it for Florida at the end of regulation but his 3-point attempt came off the iron.

The teams went back-and-forth in the final minute of overtime, with Riley Kugel stealing one in the late going and Florida working it around to take a 68-67 lead on a Niels Lane layup.

The Bulldogs answered almost instantly, though, working it inside to Tolu Smith for the winning bucket at 69-68. A Gators’ attempt at the buzzer came off the left iron.

And so the Shawn Jones alley-oop will stay as not only a highlight, but a winning highlight.

Chris Jans was pleased with the first-half effort

Though Mississippi State wasn’t able to maintain its first half lead, coach Chris Jans was happy with how the first 20 minutes went.

Jans spoke with Marty Smith heading into the half and said the Bulldog’s offensive rhythm to start was key to their early lead. However, they got away from it down the stretch so he wants his team to find it again coming out in the second half.

“I thought we had a pretty good rhythm offensively to start the game,” said Jans. “We were getting the ball inside and doing what we wanted to do.”

“I didn’t love how we finished all the time. Tolu (Smith) and Cam Matthews are better than that normally. Then we kind of got out of rhythm and part of that credit goes to Florida,” Jans explained.