Gators hope for NIT bid after losing in the SEC tournament
NASHVILLE — Tolu Smith scored a career-high 28 points, including a go-ahead basket in overtime with 4.3 seconds left, and Mississippi State beat Florida 69-68 on Thursday in the second round of the SEC Tournament.
Mississippi State (21-11) advances to play top-seeded Alabama in the quarterfinals today.
“That could have gone one of two ways,” first-year Gators coach Todd Golden said. “Thought we did a great job of finding our stride, especially on the offensive end, during that segment. Two chances at the end of regulation, then overtime to win that game. Came up a little short.”
Smith started overtime with a three-point play and Cameron Matthews dunked it on Mississippi State’s next possession. Dashawn Davis had his second straight assist that led to a dunk when he lobbed it for Shawn Jones Jr. for a highlight finish and a 64-59 lead. Florida missed a 3-pointer and Smith extended the lead to 7 with a shot in the lane, off another assist by Davis.
Florida freshman Riley Kugel made a 3 with 37.1 seconds left to pull to 67-64 and Mississippi State turned it over near midcourt before Kugel was fouled on a drive. Kugel made both free throws, the Bulldogs turned it over again and Niels Lane scored with 11.8 left to give Florida a 68-67 lead.
Mississippi State elected not to call a timeout and Davis drove the lane to find Smith open for a basket. The Bulldogs called a timeout to set up their defense. Florida guard Myreon Jones inbounded it and got it back but his long 3 was off the mark at the buzzer.
Shakeel Moore scored 12 points of his 13 points in the first half for Mississippi State. Davis added 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Smith also grabbed 12 rebounds and went 10 of 17 from the freethrow line.
Kugel finished with 14 points for Florida (16-16). Jones was held scoreless in the first half and finished with 11 points. Kowacie Reeves also scored 11 points.
Florida scored the final six points of regulation on 3s by Jones, who had a chance to win it at the buzzer but his 3 came up short.
Golden had to play again without All-SEC center Colin Castleton, who broke his right (shooting) hand on Feb. 15 to end his season.
“Considering what we’ve gone through in terms of Colin’s injury, having to reinvent ourselves later in the season, incredibly proud of the strides these guys have made,” he said, “getting back to this level where we’re competitive.”
While the NCAA Tournament will be out of the question, Golden is optimistic that a .500 record and a few quality wins could get his team an NIT invitation.
“Absolutely,” he said about his team participating if invited. “Any time you get an opportunity to compete, you better step up and grab it. As long as I’m the head coach at Florida, we’ll compete.
“I think we have a great shot to make it, getting to 16 wins, having a top 10 strength of schedule in the country, wins against Tennesee, wins on the road against Mississippi State, at home against Missouri. We have a lot of things we can hang our hat on. We were trending to be a tournament team prior to Colin’s injury.”