Smith wills MS State to victory vs. UF in OT thriller

Nashville, Tenn.– No. 9 seed MS State (20-11, 8-10 SEC) escaped No. 8 seed Florida in overtime, 69-68, in the second round of the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.

Tolu Smith (28 points, 12 rebounds) was the star of the game as he continued to run the Bulldogs, applying pressure throughout the contest. Smith had his fifth 20-point, 10-rebound game of the season — the second-most by an SEC player. Smith’s 28 points are the most by an MS State player in the SEC Tournament in the past 25 seasons.

Smith’s layup in the final seconds kept the Bulldogs in the tournament.

Florida enters the game with a win without Colin Castleton in the lineup and MS State has won eight of its last 11 games, making it one of the hottest SEC teams coming into the tournament.

The contest got off to a slow start, but Shakeel Moore’s seven points in the first four minutes eased the nerves for MS State. The Gators stayed tight after Moore’s run with a pair of baskets from Riley Kugel and Jason Jitoboh — but not for long.

Moore’s breakaway layup at the 11:59 mark in the first helped the Bulldogs create separation and then followed with three free throws after being fouled behind the arc. Despite a slow start from Bulldogs star Tolu Smith, they held a 24-15 lead halfway through the opening half.

Smith started the cooking with a smooth layup and put down his second watch with five points and five rebounds in eight minutes.

Dashawn Davis’ three-pointer in the middle of the half made it 30-17 and was a key point in MS State’s momentum. Chris Jans’ horrendous defense held the Gators to just six field goals with five minutes left in the half.

Layups by Kowacie Reeves and Alex Fudge in the final minute of the half kept the Gators within striking distance at 36-26. MS State left the first period leading the rebounding battle 23-14.

Florida came out of the gate hot with renewed energy that sparked a 16-3 run to open the second period before the Bulldogs were forced to call a timeout. Tyler Stevenson nailed a mid-range bucket after a timeout and the Florida man slowed down.

As the final 10 minutes approached, Florida and MS State began going basket-to-basket.

Kowacie Reeves struggled to get the Gators back into a winning position, but Davis’ steal and score with 3:30 remaining forced a Florida timeout and led to a 53-51 score. Smith was in command in the closing minutes until Myreon Jones hit a three-pointer to tie the game, 57-57, with :36 seconds left.

Davis missed the go-ahead floater for MS State and Jones followed with a close, but missed three-point attempt – sending the game into overtime.

Smith beat two Florida defenders to start the overtime period with a conversion and one. Cameron Matthews stepped into the lane on the play with an explosive jam, which caused quite a stir. A gang-oop for Shawn Jones Jr. took the ceiling off the arena and forced the Gators to call a timeout with 2:17 left in the period, marking a 64-59 lead.

Kugel and the Gators would not go down without a fight as he hit a three-pointer and then made a free throw – bringing the game to 67-66. Niel Lane hit a layup to give the Gators a one-point lead and then Smith iced the game with a quick two-point score in the final five seconds.

Until Next Time

MS State will face 1-seed Alabama in the tournament quarterfinals on Saturday at 1pm ET – the game will be televised on the SEC Network.

Florida (16-15, 9-9 SEC) was eliminated from the tournament.