A home game against undermanned and overwhelmed Mississippi State was the perfect landing spot for the Gators.
No. 2 Florida, coming off its first loss in more than a month, ripped the Bulldogs 83-58 at the O’Connell Center. The Gators (19-3, 9-1 SEC) won their two games against Mississippi State this season by a total of 60 points.
Florida needed to regain its defensive form more than anything, and it did so by holding the Bulldogs to 26 points in the first half and 42.6 percent shooting overall.
“Our guys understood that we need to come out here today and play better and play like we’re capable of,” UF coach Billy Donovan said. “We were gonna need to step up here and really be ready.”
Five Gators scored in double figures, led by Mike Rosario’s 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Erik Murphy scored 17 points and had five rebounds, and Kenny Boynton added 10 points with six assists.
Mississippi State (7-15, 2-8) came in depleted by injury and disciplinary trouble. It had six scholarship players and two walk-ons available.
The next challenge will be more difficult and more important for the Gators. They host Kentucky on Tuesday (7 p.m., ESPN) and hope to end their five-game losing streak to the Wildcats.
Kentucky is unranked, but it has won five straight games and could jump into the top 25 when the new polls come out Monday. The Wildcats are 8-2 in the SEC, one game behind Florida.
“We’ve got to take on that challenge and protect our home court,” Rosario said. “Nothing’s better than beating Kentucky.”
Donovan was mostly pleased, but he was irritated by his team allowing the Bulldogs to shoot 46.4 percent in the second half and pointed out that even though they were short-handed, they came within three points of their season scoring average.
It was a better performance, though, than the Gators had in their 80-69 loss at Arkansas on Tuesday. The 80 points and 49.1 percent shooting were the best offensive numbers any opponent has posted against Florida this season.
The Gators pulled away from Mississippi State with an 11-0 run near the midpoint of the first half and pushed their lead to 26 early in the second half.
It was Florida’s first game without reserve forward Will Yeguete, an integral part of the team’s defense and rebounding. Yeguete had surgery to clear loose particles in his knee and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season.
Two players on whom the Gators are relying to fill his production showed they might be able to do so. Michael Frazier, a freshman, started and had 11 points and six rebounds. Casey Prather scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.
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