Gators Use Strong Second Half Start to Down Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 3 Florida Gators men’s basketball team dominated the second half of Tuesday night’s game to secure its second SEC road win in a row, beating No. 22 Mississippi State 81-68.

This win also marked the first time in program history that the Gators won back-to-back games on the road against ranked opponents, per 247Sports Graham Hall on X.

The win came with a cost, though.

Florida lost their star forward/center Alex Condon less than a minute into the game with an ankle injury. Despite losing Condon, the Gators found major success behind the efforts of Thomas Haugh, Walter Clayton Jr. and Denzel Aberdeen.

Haugh ended the night with a near triple-double by logging 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists off the bench. He also added two blocks, two steals.

Aberdeen, who started in place of the injured Alijah Martin, scored a game-high 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting, while Clayton Jr. finished with 19 points, six rebounds and six assists in 37 minutes.

NEEDLE & THREAD

tommy ➡️ zel SLAM

📺ESPN2
Gators 39 | Bulldogs 34 pic.twitter.com/eF2subn1wM
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) February 12, 2025

Tightly Contested Battle in First Half

Things did not begin great for the Gators on Tuesday. Within the first 30 seconds, big man Condon went down with a lower leg injury after receiving an inbounds pass and landing awkwardly. He would be carried to the locker room and did not return to the court.

Despite the loss of Condon and already being without guard Alijah Martin, the rest of the team bounced back. The Gators jumped out to a 10-5 lead over the Bulldogs with the difference for them being five early points from Haugh.

This lead would diminish five minutes later, though, with the Bulldogs defense making things very scrappy during this stretch, resulting in the hosts taking a 19-17 lead with around 10 minutes remaining in the half.

Mississippi State weren’t the only ones that played some stingy defense. Undermanned Florida matched their effort on that end of the court as well, eventually leading to the Gators regaining a five-point lead with four minutes left in the first half.

However, the Bulldogs had another run up its sleeve, as they went on an 8-0 run that gave it a 30-27 advantage at the 1:27 mark. Then, by the end of the half, the Bulldogs found themselves in front 34-33 over the Gators.

Gators Impose Early and Never Look Back

Florida had a much better start to the second half with an offense that looked untouchable. In the first five minutes, the Gators shot 6-for-9 from the field including 4-for-6 from 3-point territory to spark a 17-0 run.

At the heart of this run were Clayton Jr. and Aberdeen with Clayton Jr. supplying three points and three assists and Aberdeen shooting 3-for-3 from the field with seven points. Florida turned it's one-point deficit to a 50-34 lead by the end of the run.

zelly triple to start off the second half

📺ESPN2
Gators 36 | Bulldogs 34 pic.twitter.com/uep2qseM8U
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) February 12, 2025

Florida used this jolt of momentum over the next few minutes as well, extending their lead to 20 points near the 13-minute mark of the second half. Mississippi State did slowly start to climb back into this one, though, cutting the Gators lead down to 14 points, but that is about as close as it got down the stretch.

Most of the game the rest of the way was Florida answering anything Mississippi State presented, which allowed it to hold a double-digit lead for almost all of the second half. In the end, the Gators wound up leaving Humphrey Coliseum with an 81-68 victory over the Bulldogs

Return trip home

Florida returns home on Saturday for a matchup against the South Carolina Gamecocks. This game is scheduled to tip at 8:30 p.m. on SEC Network.