How to Watch, Knowing the Opponent for Gators vs Mississippi State

Gainesville, Fla. — The No. 3 Florida Gators will finish off their two-game road trip Tiesday in Starkville, Miss., when they take on No. 22 Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs are 17-6 on the season with a 5-5 conference record. As for Florida, they waltz into Humphrey Coliseum 20-3 overall, 7-3 in the SEC and fresh off of another win over an AP No. 1.

This SEC, top-25 matchup is slated to tip at 7 p.m.

How to Watch

Television: ESPN 2

Play-by-play: Tom Hart

Color Analyst: Dane Bradshaw

Reporter: Alyssa Lang

How to listen

Radio: Gators Sports Network from Learfield, SiriusXM Channel 139/191 & SiriusXM App

Play-by-play: Sean Kelly

Producer/Engineer: Steve Egan

Shared History

While the Gators boast a strong home record in their series history against the Bulldogs, the same can’t be said for when they travel to Starkville. The Gators own an away record of 25-36 in this series.

Although they did win their last away game against Mississippi State 61-59 back in 2023. Additionally, they won three of the last four and six of the last 10.

Another interesting takeaway from their recent history is that neither team has won their games rather comfortably. The last double-digit win by either side came back in 2018 when the Gators won 71-54. So, this could come down to the wire and it wouldn’t be all too surprising.

Mississippi State’s Regular Season at a Glance

The Bulldogs join six other SEC teams (Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas A&M) and are one of 24 teams in the nation in total that have at least nine combined NCAA Net Quad 1 and 2 victories this year.

After making it through another week of staying in the top 25, Mississippi State has now been placed inside the top 25 for eight straight weeks.

Upon beating No. 18 Pitt, No. 21 Memphis and in-state rivals No. 21 Ole Miss, this is the first time ever in program history that the Bulldogs enter the month of February with three wins over top 25 opponents.

How Florida’s Resume Stacks Up Against Their Foes

Gators head coach Todd Golden has now produced two wins over an AP No. 1 this season, which is just the fifth time that has ever occurred. Additionally, having taken down No. 1 Tennessee at home and No. 1 Auburn on the road, it is also just the fifth time that a team has ever beaten a No. 1 on the road and at home in the same season.

One reason why they were able to accomplish this feat is because of the efficiency of offense and their revamped defense. Florida is just one of three teams (Duke, Houston) that has both their offensive and defensive efficiency rank in KenPom’s top 10. The Gators hold the fourth spot in offensive efficiency and ninth in defensive efficiency.

Offensively, Golden has his guys roaring. There have been 20 occurrences of the Gators scoring 90 or more points under the third-year head coach and six have come this season.

Moreover, the Gators, on average, are outscoring their opponents by 17.3 points thanks to their high-powered offense pumping out 83.7 points per game while their stout defense has limited opponents to just 66.4 per game.

A Deep Bulldogs roster

The ringleader for Mississippi State is Josh Hubbard. Hubbard had a breakout season as a freshman last season, pouring in 17.1 points per game on his way to being given All-SEC Second-Team and All-SEC Freshman-Team honors.

Now, as a sophomore, he is averaging 17.5 points and 3.1 assists per game through 23 contests so far.

Hubbard was named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason 25 player watch list.

In cohorts with Hubbard, the trio of former Gator Riley Kugel, Claudell Harris and Keyshawn Murphy are the other players to keep an eye on. Murphy is first on the team in rebounds (7.3) and second in points (11.1), Harris is third in points (10.2) and Kugel is fourth in points (9.7) and one of the team's most dangerous three-point shooters (35.5 percent).

For some, having to go to the bench is difficult. The talent drop-off can lead to displeasing looks from the head coach. However, Mississippi State owns one of the top benches in the nation, based on scoring. It is No. 18 in the nation in bench points per game, scoring 30.48 points per game.