National Basketball Association
Florida 69, Mississippi St. 57
When: 1:30 PM ET, Saturday, January 28, 2012
Where: Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Florida
Officials:
# Doug Shows, # Anthony Jordan, # Michael Kitts
Attendance:
12045
By SportsDirect Inc.
Freshman Bradley Beal scored 19 points, and No. 13 Florida beat No. 16 Mississippi State 69-57 in a battle of two of the top teams in the SEC.
The Gators (17-4, 5-2 SEC) used an 11-0 run to pull away from the Bulldogs (17-5, 4-3), extending their winning streak to five. The victory moves the third-place Gators within one game of SEC leader Kentucky, which plays Louisiana State later Saturday.
The loss drops fourth-place Mississippi State 2.5 games out of first.
Jalen Steele’s 3-pointer with 7:59 to go brought Mississippi State within 51-47. Then the Gators seized control. Beal’s 3-pointer 20 seconds later started the run. Patric Young scored on a pair of dunks, and Beal capped the run with a layup with 3:50 to go, making it 62-47 Florida.
Erik Murphy added 14 points for the Gators. Young scored 12 points off the bench. Florida used a 7-0 run late in the first half to take a 27-20 lead. The Bulldogs pulled within 30-27 at halftime.
Arnett Moultrie scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Bulldogs, before fouling out with 2:04 remaining. Dee Bost also scored 12 points.
Florida hosts South Carolina on Thursday. Mississippi State hosts Auburn on Saturday.
Top Game Performances
| Mississippi St. |
|
Florida |
|
Dee Bost 12 |
Scoring |
Bradley Beal 19 |
|
Dee Bost 4 |
Assists |
Kenny Boynton 5 |
|
Arnett Moultrie 13 |
Rebounds |
Will Yeguete 7 |
|
Arnett Moultrie 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Bradley Beal 4 |
|
Dee Bost 1 |
Steals |
Will Yeguete 2 |
|
Arnett Moultrie 1 |
Blocks |
Erik Murphy 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Mississippi St.
|
57 |
43.8 |
7-16 |
8-14 |
10 |
30 |
1 |
2 |
14 |
| Florida
|
69 |
48.2 |
11-24 |
4-7 |
15 |
25 |
3 |
5 |
5 |