Gators tip off SEC Tournament against Mississippi State

The Florida Gators are set to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Thursday afternoon in the second round of the SEC Tournament.

The two teams squared off in Starkville with UF coming away with a 2-point victory.

Florida comes into the tournament of two consecutive wins. Mississippi State, on the other hand, lost its regular season finale at Vanderbilt.

The Bulldogs are a last four bye team in the NCAA Tournament. If the Gators get the win, they could ruin MSU’s tourney hopes.

“That’s the great thing about going to the tournament is everybody has equal opportunity to go on a run and get there,” UF head coach Todd Golden said Tuesday. “You know, it’s been done before, so the opportunity’s there. It starts with Thursday, but exactly, you know. It’s kind of a fresh start for everybody going into this one week mini season where if you win a couple of games, you can get yourself a bid to the tournament.”

Mississippi State’s players to watch

Leading the way for Mississippi State is Tolu Smith. He leads the team with an average 15.4 points, 8.3 rebounds while shooting 58.3% from the field.

In the first matchup, he had 12 points and 11 rebounds. This time, he won’t have to deal with Colin Castleton.

“We’re going to have to do similar to what we did with KJ on Saturday: show him different bodies, some double teams, be very mindful about preventing him from getting deep catches,” Golden said. “He’s just a monster on the glass and a really, really good, physical athlete. We’re going to have to run different people at him for sure and do the best we can to limit him.

“But he’s a very good player and one that’s probably the main reason why Mississippi State’s in the position they’re in to play in the (NCAA) Tournament, especially if they can find a way to beat us on Thursday.” 

DJ Jeffries helps Tolu Smith around the glas with 6.2 rebounds per game while scoring 9 points per game.

The Bulldogs can rely on Shakeel Moore, Cameron Matthews and Dashawn Davis to move the ball around on offense. Moore was the most dangerous of the bunch the first time around with 12 points and five rebounds. 

How the Gators move to the SEC quarterfinal 

Will Richard has answered the call for Florida in its past three games. He must continue to play at this level, and UF needs to be able to rely on him shooting the ball well from the outside.

Mississippi State likes to force turnovers. Florida’s ball handlers are mostly veterans, so they need to take care of the rock.

“They turn over teams a lot,” Golden said. “Knock on wood, we took care of it well against them the first time. So their length, again, they’re very physical at the point of attack, both on the ball and in ball screen coverages. You have to be both mentally and physically tough to win against them and so, we’ve got to do a good job being prepared for that.”

Florida has struggled to shoot the ball consistently for 40 minutes. Any scoring droughts in this tournament will ruin UF’s chances to make a run.

The Gators cannot let Smith dominate the glass, or it will be a long afternoon. It’s unlikely they’ll win the battle of the boards, but Florida can’t get dominated in that category.

Winner takes on top seeded Alabama on Friday afternoon. Loser goes home.

Stay tuned to Gators Online.

WHO: Florida Gators (16-15, 9-9 SEC) vs Mississippi State Bulldogs (20-13, 8-10 SEC)

WHERE: Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, TN) (19,395)

WHEN: Thursday, March 9, 1 p.m. ET

WATCH: SEC Network or ESPN App; Play-by-Play: Karl Ravech; Analyst: Jimmy Dykes; Reporter: Marty Smith

RADIO: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD; Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley; Analyst: Le