Bradley Beal led the No. 13 Florida Gators (17-4, 5-1 SEC) to a victory over No. 16 Mississippi State Bulldogs (17-5, 4-3 SEC) 69 -57 Saturday Night. Beal scored 19 points and finished 6 – 9 from the field going 3-4 from behind the arc. Erik Murphy added another 14 points and made 4 out of his seven three point attempts. Florida started out the game very slow and led the Bulldogs at half by only three points. It wasn’t until the second half when the Florida went on an 11-0 run that seemingly put the game out of sight. From there, the Bulldogs couldn’t recover. Florida went a combined 11-24 from behind the arc. After being asked what he thought about the Gators 3-point play, MSU coach, Rick Stansbury replied, “It seemed like 21, but it was only 11,” and “That’s why they lead the country in 3-point shooting,” , “There’s a reason why they have that stat.” Up next for the Gators is the South Carolina Gamecocks (9-11, 1-5 SEC), which they will be facing at home, on Thursday, February 2.

No. 14 Florida Gators (16-4, 4-1 SEC) started the second half 0-3 from the field and things just didn’t look good. They had already been out performed in the first half and were down by 10 points to an unranked Ole Miss Rebel (13-7, 3-3 SEC) that was just relentless from begin the arc in the first half going 6-6 from behind the arc. Then things started to turn around…slowly. Erik Murphy hits a shot, the Rebels miss some foul shots, Patric Young makes a couple of baskets and Mike Rosario hits a three. Things started to look better. Murphy hits a three, Young throws down a nice dunk and just like that, we are back in it. With 9:45 seconds left in the second half, Florida finally tied the score on a Scotty Wilbekin three. It was the first time the score was tied since tip-off. With 8 minutes to go, Florida took its first lead since it led 2-0 in the first half and never looked back. Only forward as Kenny Boynton, who leads the league with 66 three point FGM, connected on two three balls and Rosario chipped in another one. Florida leads the NCAA in threes made with 212. The Gators defense held the Rebels to 8 – 29 (27%) shooting in the second half. A drastic improvement from the first half were Ole Miss shot 60%. The Rebels did make it interesting right at the end, but the Gators held strong and came away with a nice conference and road win. Florida improves to 2-4 on the road. Erving Walker scored 10 points and had a career high in assists with 9. Patric Young led the gAtors in scoring with 15 points, shooting an efficient 70% from the field going 7-10. The Gators face No. 16 Mississippi State Bulldogs in Gainesville, on January 28 at 1:30pm.

Photo: Rogelio V. Solis / AP

The Florida Gators (15-4, 3-1 SEC) defeated the LSU Tigers (12-7, 2-3 SEC) 76 -64 on Saturday night in Gainesville to extend its home winning streak to 16. The Gators had five players in double figures in scoring. Eric Murphy led the Gators with 15 points, Erving Walker had 12 and Kenny Boynton, Bradley Beal and Mike Rosario each chipped in with 11 points. Throughout this entire season Florida has killed teams with the three ball. On nights where the Gators were dismantling teams with the three, which they lead the nation in makes per a game, they very rarely have to rely on a balanced offensive effort inside the arc. LAst night, this was not the case. The Gators shot only 7 – 21 from beyond the arc and still managed to put perform admirably. They dominated the field shotting 74% from inside the three line and cruised to a victory eventhough LSU pulled within 8 with 3 minutes remaining. Erving Walker hit a go ahead three after that which put the game on ice. The Gators next matchup will be against Ole Miss on January 26, at 7:00pm.

The Gators (14-4, 2-1 SEC) finally got a much-needed win on the road against the South Carolina Gamecocks (8-9, 0-3 SEC). Florida put on an offensive clinic defeating the Gamecocks 79 – 65. The Gators shot 53% from the field going 25 of 47 and completing 12 of 24 from behind the arc. All five starters finished with double figures in scoring. Kenny Boynton led the team with 15 points, with 12 of those points coming off of 4 -7 shooting for three. Bradley Beal and Will Yeguette both had 14 points and Erving Walker and Erik Murphy chipped in 11 each. Erving Walker went 3-4 from behind the arc. Next up for the Gators are the LSU Tigers, which they will be facing on Saturday, January 21, at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville.

No. 19 Florida Gators (13-4, 1-1 SEC) defeated the Georgia Bulldogs (9-7, 0-2 SEC) in Gainesville. This was the Gators second SEC matchup of the season and it turned out to be one of the best defensive performances that the Gators put out this season. They held the Bulldogs to 36 percent from the field and forced Georgia to miss eight of their first nine shots. This defensive performance was not a fluke. After the Gators lost to the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday 67-56, head coach Billy Donovan had seen enough and did what all great coaches do, forced his players to get back to their roots and focus. It just so happens that defense is what wins championships and that is exactly what Donovan conveyed to them. He made the Gators go through two hard practices on Sunday which revolved around boxing out, rebounding and defense. He was so set on getting back to the basics that he placed two plastic covers over each rim so that no one could attempt a shot. It apparently worked. The Gators D was so stifling that the announcers on ESPN kept comparing it to Alabama’s fresh romp over LSU (BCS is such a joke).

Nonetheless, you still have to win by scoring, and the Gators had some help from freshmen Bradley Beal who scored 17 points, had a double double and went 4-6 from behind the arc. Beal finally broke out is four game slump (shot 30 percent and was 2-16 from 3 point range) where he was often benched at times due to poor performance. The Gators Kenny Boynton finished with 17 points. This is the 15^th consecutive home win for the Gators.

The Gators next matchup will be against the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday, January 14.