National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Florida 75, Mississippi 71
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 22, 2014
Where: C.M. 'Tad' Smith Coliseum, Oxford, Mississippi
Officials: # Lee Cassell, # James Barker, # Tim Gattis
Attendance: 8140


No. 2 Florida 75, Mississippi 71: Scottie Wilbekin scored a team-high 18 points and Michael Frazier II drilled five 3-pointers as the visiting Gators extended their school-best winning streak to 19 games.

Patric Young scored eight of his 12 points in the second half for Florida (25-2, 14-0 SEC), which avenged last season's 66-63 loss to Ole Miss in the conference tournament final. Off to the best start in the program's history, the Gators also positioned themselves for their first No. 1 ranking since 2007 after top-ranked Syracuse suffered a stunning home loss to Boston College on Wednesday.

Marshall Henderson scored all 22 of his points in the first half for Ole Miss (16-11, 7-7), which has dropped four in a row for the first time since January 2011.

With the contest tied at 59-59, Wilbekin stole the ball and fed Young for a dunk. The spirited play seemed to ignite Florida, which saw Casey Prather drill a long-range jumper and Dorian Finney-Smith followed his missed 3-point attempt to set up a pair of free throws for Will Yeguete.

Young sandwiched four free throws around Aaron Jones' layup to give the Gators a 68-61 lead with 3:42 to play. Frazier made his fifth 3-pointer to extend the advantage to eight at 71-63 with 3:11 left and Florida never looked back.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Finney-Smith sank a 3-pointer to cap a 10-0 run and give his team a 34-24 lead with 6:36 left in the first half. The sophomore entered the contest having missed 18 straight attempts from 3-point range over his last six games. ... The contest was tied at 42-42 at halftime, marking the sixth straight game that the Gators failed to hold a lead entering intermission. ... Prather went 3-for-10 from the field after entering the contest having connected on 14 of his previous 17 attempts.
Top Game Performances
 
Florida   Mississippi
Scottie Wilbekin 18 Scoring Marshall Henderson 22
Scottie Wilbekin 7 Assists Dwight Coleby 4
Dorian Finney-Smith 5 Rebounds Aaron Jones 9
Patric Young 4 Free Throws Made Marshall Henderson 3
DeVon Walker 2 Steals Anthony Perez 3
Dorian Finney-Smith 1 Blocks Aaron Jones 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Florida 75 44.4 12-33 15-19 19 27 1 4 14
Mississippi 71 45.0 8-25 9-11 15 28 3 10 13