Setup:

hird-ranked Florida heads to Starkville to face No. 22 Mississippi State in a pivotal SEC matchup with both teams battling for position in the conference standings. The Gators are fresh off one of the most memorable regular-season victories in program history — a 90-81 upset of No. 1 Auburn, their first-ever road win against a top-ranked opponent. Mississippi State, meanwhile, halted a two-game home skid by edging Georgia 76-75. Florida currently shares third place in the SEC with Texas A&M, holding a slim half-game lead over three other teams. The Bulldogs sit in a three-way tie for eighth. Expect a charged atmosphere at Humphrey Coliseum (“The Hump”), though perhaps not as hostile as Auburn’s “The Jungle,” as Florida now finds itself among the hunted in college basketball.

Series:

Florida leads the all-time series 68-53, winning three of the last four meetings but dropping two of the last three in Starkville. The teams met once last season, with the Gators earning a 79-70 victory at Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center on Jan. 24, 2024. Junior guard Will Richard delivered one of his best performances in a UF uniform, scoring 23 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and adding two steals and two blocks. In the closing minutes, fifth-year guard Zyon Pullin, junior guard Walter Clayton Jr., and freshman forward Alex Condon combined to hit 10 of 11 free throws, securing the win after Mississippi State had trimmed a 17-point deficit to six. Both Pullin and Clayton finished with 15 points.

Etc:

Florida enters its 10th straight week ranked in the Associated Press Top 10, the program’s longest streak since 2014.

Tale of the Tape

The Gators

Florida bounced back in dramatic fashion after a 20-point loss at Tennessee. Just three days later, the Gators defeated Vanderbilt at home without their leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr.. (ankle). Four days after that, they took down No. 1 Auburn on the road — despite missing fifth-year guard Alijah Martin (hip pointer) — building a 21-point lead and securing what stands as the biggest road win in program history.

In limiting Auburn, the nation’s top-rated offense, to 43 percent shooting overall and 31.8 percent from three (7-for-22), Florida vaulted into the national top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. Only Duke (No. 3) and Houston (No. 6) share that distinction. The Gators also rank third nationally in effective field-goal defense, fourth in three-point defense (28.2 percent), 16th in two-point defense (44.9 percent), and fourth in offensive rebounding percentage (39.8). The Auburn victory improved Florida to 1-11 all-time in road matchups between top-10 teams.

Since the Tennessee loss, Florida has shot 54.2 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from three (23 makes), while dishing out 42 assists — leading the SEC in both categories over the last two games. Coach Todd Golden  now owns wins this season over Rick Barnes, John Calipari, and Bruce Pearl. Florida is 4-4 in Quadrant 1 games (per the NCAA Evaluation Tool) and is aiming for back-to-back Q1 road victories.

Golden noted Monday that Martin is “questionable” for the upcoming game, with his status likely determined during warm-ups. His defense and experience would be valuable, but the Gators proved they could rally without him at Auburn. Denzel Aberdeen (7.5 ppg) stepped into Martin’s role after filling in for Clayton against Vanderbilt, where he scored 13 points with three assists in a career-high 35 minutes. At Auburn, Aberdeen overcame a slow start (missing his first five shots) to finish 4-for-6, including two clutch threes in the second half.

Clayton looked every bit the All-America candidate, dominating Auburn with 19 points and a career-best nine assists. Will Richard added 12 points and five rebounds in 31 minutes, despite early foul trouble. Backup guard Urban Klavzar (2.7 ppg) went 3-for-3 from deep for nine points and posted a plus-17 rating, second only to Thomas Haugh’s plus-19. Klavzar has scored 15 points in the last two games after being held scoreless through Florida’s first eight SEC contests.

The frontcourt duo of Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh delivered one of the best combined performances in the country. Condon earned SEC Player of the Week honors for the second time this season after hitting 14 of 16 shots inside the arc and grabbing 19 rebounds across two games. Against Auburn and SEC Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome, Condon recorded his fifth double-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists in 33 minutes. Haugh contributed 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and several hustle plays in 28 minutes, finishing with a team-best plus-19 rating. Backup forward Sam Alexis (5.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg) also chipped in, hitting a three-pointer for the second straight game after going 13 consecutive without one.

The Bulldogs

Now in his third season at Mississippi State, Chris Jans has continued to build on the success he established at New Mexico State, where his teams averaged 27.5 wins across four non-Covid seasons. Jans guided his first two Bulldog squads to the NCAA Tournament despite finishing 8-10 in SEC play, and this year’s team appears headed in the same direction.

Mississippi State squads under Jans are known for their toughness, particularly on defense, though the 2024-25 group also ranks among the nation’s top 20 offenses. Defensively, they’ve been more vulnerable than Jans would prefer, allowing at least 88 points in four of their five conference defeats. Those losses, however, came against some of the SEC’s strongest programs — Kentucky, Alabama, and Missouri at home, plus Auburn and Tennessee on the road.



The Bulldogs opened the season with 14 wins in their first 15 games, including a 2-0 start in league play, but have gone 3-5 since. Their upcoming schedule features Florida, No. 19 Ole Miss on the road, and No. 8 Texas A&M.

This matchup will also be notable as the first time since 2020 that Florida faces Mississippi State without dominant forward Tolu Smith anchoring the paint.

Forward Cameron Matthews provides toughness in the paint, converting close to 60 percent of his attempts inside the arc. One of his standout outings this season came against Kentucky, where he posted 19 points and 10 rebounds in a double-double performance. Matthews also leads the Bulldogs in assists and pulled down 11 boards in last year’s matchup with Florida.

Michael Nwoko starts at center but typically plays around 16 minutes per game. He made a major impact in the win at Georgia, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field. Nwoko, a transfer from Miami, often yields minutes to junior KeShawn Murphy (10.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg), a 6-foot-10, 230-pound presence who is Mississippi State’s leading rebounder. Murphy is shooting 56 percent this season, though like Nwoko, he does not stretch the floor from three-point range.



On the perimeter, guard Claudell Harris — who transferred from Boston College after beginning his career at Charleston Southern — ranks second on the team in made threes with 49, hitting nearly 35 percent of his attempts. He has connected at least once from deep in all but one game this season.

Numbers to Know

5 — Programs in the AP poll era (since 1948-49) that have defeated two No. 1 teams in the same season: Oklahoma in 1989-90 (Missouri, Kansas); Georgia Tech in 1992-93 (Duke, North Carolina); Arkansas in 2021-22 (Gonzaga, Auburn); Alabama in 2022-23 (North Carolina, Houston); and Florida in 2024-25 (Tennessee, Auburn).

20 — Games in which Florida has scored at least 90 points under Todd Golden across his three seasons. By comparison, the five other UF coaches who reached 20 such games all needed at least seven seasons: Billy Donovan (80 in 19 years), Norm Sloan (45 in 15 years), John Lotz (34 in seven years), and Tommy Bartlett (28 in seven years).

833 — Career points for Riley Kugel, combining his two seasons at Florida (620) and one at Mississippi State (213). He has averaged 9.6 points on 43 percent shooting (34.5 percent from three), along with 3.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.0 steal across 87 games (33 starts). In Mississippi State’s win at Georgia on Saturday, he contributed 10 points, two threes, three rebounds, and two steals.

1,017 — Walter Clayton Jr.’s career scoring total in his two seasons at Florida, making him the 57th player in program history to surpass 1,000 points. He currently ranks No. 55 on the all-time list, with Chris Chiozza next ahead at 1,025. With at least 10 games remaining, Clayton has room to climb further.

1,051 — Will Richard’s career scoring total in three seasons at Florida, after becoming the 56th Gator to reach 1,000 points two weeks ago. He sits at No. 53 on the program’s scoring list, just one point behind Erik Murphy.