Mississippi State @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 15, 2019 ) Florida 68, Mississippi State 71

Florida lost for the sixth straight time at home when facing the nation's No. 1 team in Saturday's 72-61 loss to Baylor. The Gators get back to SEC play on Tuesday and look to snap their first two-game losing streak of the season when Mississippi State visits.

The game was tied at 25-25 with less than seven minutes to play in the first half when the Bears sped off on a 15-4 spurt to close the half up 40-29, and the Bears only needed six minutes of the second half to take the lead out to 19. "We're casual. We're soft. At times, we lack the discipline of the best defenses in the country, like Baylor," Florida coach Mike White said. "We've not seen a big jump in maturity with this team. I hope everyone in our locker room is dissatisfied with where we are." The Bulldogs led at Oklahoma with four minutes left but couldn't hold it, and a last second-shot by Robert Woodard II misfired in their 63-62 loss on Saturday. "This loss is on me," Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said. "I did a horrible job the last 15 seconds of the game not setting something up."

TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE (12-7, 3-3 SEC): Woodard (11.5 points, 7.5 rebounds) had 15 points and six rebounds, while Tyson Carter (13.6 points, 3.6 assists) had 14 points and two 3-pointers in the contest, allowing him to move past Timmy Bowers (2001-04) into fifth place for career triples with 198. Freshman D.J. Stewart Jr. scored 10 of his 12 points during the second half and hauled down a career-best eight rebounds, but the Bulldogs dropped to 8-1 on the season when Stewart reaches double figures. Leading scorer and rebounder Reggie Perry (16.4 points, 10.1 boards) was limited to seven points and six rebounds, as the sophomore had his run of four straight double-doubles, three consecutive via 20-point, 10-rebound efforts, snapped.

ABOUT FLORIDA (12-7, 4-2): Forward Keyontae Johnson (13.1 points, 6.6 rebounds) had 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting, while fellow sophomore Andrew Nembhard (11.3 points, 6.2 assists) added 16 points and eight assists against the Bears, who grabbed 13 offensive rebounds to just eight for the Gators. Leading scorer and rebounder Kerry Blackshear Jr. (14.5 points, 8.4 rebounds) was held to nine points and four boards. In conference games, the Gators rank second in offensive efficiency (112.5 points per 100 possessions) with conference-best percentages of 37.7 percent beyond the arc and 51.9 percent inside it.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Mississippi State won last year 71-68, ending Florida's eight-game winning streak in the series.

2. Perry is averaging 19.8 points on 51 percent shooting and 11.3 rebounds in six conference games and is one of two players in the country averaging 16 points, 10 rebounds and two assists in all games (Cal State Northridge's Lamine Diane).

3. With the loss to Baylor, Florida fell to 2-17 all-time against teams ranked No. 1, including 0-4 under White. The Gators have 10 straight losses dating to the 2007 NCAA title game victory against Ohio State.

PREDICTION: Florida 74, Mississippi State 62