Becoming more physical is something Florida hopes will boost the Gators to a better place in the Southeastern Conference.
Mississippi State meets Florida on Wednesday night in Gainesville, Fla., where one of them will win for the second straight game.
There were signs of improved physicality for the Gators in Saturday night’s 79-67 victory at Missouri.
“It was a really big growth moment for our group,” Florida coach Todd Golden said.
Florida (12-6, 2-3 SEC) has lost three of five games this month since closing December with a six-game winning streak. Only a two-point home loss to Kentucky has had a single-digit margin among the Gators’ last seven games.
“It puts us in better position with two home games (coming up),” Golden said of winning away from home. “This team needed a road win to really get some confidence.”
Mississippi State (13-5, 2-3) snapped a two-game slide by defeating Vanderbilt 68-55 at home Saturday. Now it’s time to take another step.
“We haven’t been able to get a true road win,” Bulldogs coach Chris Jans said. “But I believe in this team and we talk a lot about what’s required to win on the road.”
The Bulldogs have such balance offensively that guard Josh Hubbard at 14.2 points per game is the only team member who has played all season with a double-figure scoring average. Center Tolu Smith III has checked in with 19.7 points per game in six games since he finally made it on the court after an offseason injury.
Florida’s emphasis on excelling on physical play might be evident with better interior scoring.
“A big thing we talked about is go finish at the rim,” Golden said.
That’s apparent to Jans from his scouting.
“Just the quality of depth they have at the rim,” Jans said.
But it’s a team-wide effort for the Gators to reduce turnovers. That was pretty much achieved in the Missouri game.
“We did a great job of taking care of the ball, only eight turnovers,” Golden said. “All four of our frontcourt players are real good decision-makers and good passers.”
That might be necessary against a Mississippi State team that’s collecting 8.7 steals per game — third-most in the league.
The Gators’ Zyon Pullin is second in the SEC with 4.7 assists per game. Teammates Tyrese Samuel (8.3) and Micah Handlogten (7.7) rate third and fourth in rebounding average.
–Field Level Media
