Florida Fends Off Mississippi State's Late Comeback Efforts, Post 79-70 Win

Will Richard's 23 points and nine rebounds lift the Gators to a critical nine-point win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday night in Gainesville.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida wing Will Richard led a well-distributed scoring effort — in which four Gators posted double-digit points — en route to a critical 79-70 victory over the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday night. 

Highlighted by an uber-important three-point field goal with 4:11 remaining in the second half, which extended the Gators' lead back to ten, Richard accounted for 23 points on 53% shooting from the field and a team-high nine boards on the evening.

Florida moves to 13-6 (3-3 SEC), earning an important Quad-II victory in the process. Mississippi State, meanwhile, drops to 13-6 (2-4 SEC) with the road loss.

A sloppy start to action, shooting a combined 3-for-15 in the first five minutes of action, quickly turned into a scoring onslaught by Florida's junior wing in Richard and Mississippi State's true freshman guard Josh Hubbard.

The latter offered a considerable spark to the Bulldogs' otherwise stagnant offensive production off the bench, as he has throughout most of the season. 

Hubbard lived up to his moniker as a sharpshooter, as over 60% of his output on the season had come on three-point shots. Overcoming back-to-back misses to start, the frosh connected on three of his subsequent five attempts from the outside. He also found success off the bounce, using one dribble to create several open midrange jump shots and knocking down a floater in the paint.

He finished with 16 points in the period and 26 points total.

Richard answered for Florida, leading the unit's three-point shooting prowess in the first period by connecting on three of his four attempts from beyond the arc.

He finished the first 20 minutes with 18 points, which equaled 41.8% of the team's scoring production. The Gators entered the locker room break leading the Bulldogs by nine, 43-34, as a result.

Florida's late-half surge carried into the second, enabling the unit to expand its lead to 17 with 7:22 left.

The Bulldogs closed the gap to as little as six with a surge in the final eight minutes, taking advantage of the Gators' conservative offensive approach. Golden considerably slowed down their fast-paced attack in the closing stretch in an effort to milk the clock.

Florida went 10-for-11 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes to put the game on ice.

The Gators improve to 9-1 in games Richard scores in double digits during the 2023-24 campaign. They are also 8-3 in games where the unit connects on eight or more threes, knocking down eight of their 25 attempts from beyond the arc on the evening.

Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton Jr. accounted for 15 points each to complement Richard. Tyrese Samuel added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Florida will remain in Gainesville on Saturday as former head coach Mike White leads Georgia (14-5, 4-2 SEC) into the Stephen C. O'Connell Center for the second time since he jumped ship from the Gators to the Bulldogs in March 2022.

The rivalry bout will tip off at noon ET.

---

Stay tuned to All Gators for continuous coverage of Florida Gators football, basketball and recruiting. Follow along on social media at @AllGatorsOnFN on Twitter and All Gators on FanNation-Sports Illustrated on Facebook.