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Hello, my name is Griffin Foll. I graduated from the University of Florida in August 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a specialization in sports and media. I am passionate about my writing and reporting, and I hope you enjoy my personal website. Welcome!
  • 2020 Florida Gators Softball Preview

    2020 Florida Gators Softball Preview

    Photo by Brian Fox / ChompTalk.com

    The Florida softball team kicks off its 2020 season this Friday in Tampa as they compete in the USF-Rawlings Invitational. The Gators will play five different teams in just three days. On Friday, they face Illinois State. Saturday calls for a double-header, featuring a morning game against Fresno State and an afternoon game against 17th ranked Michigan. On Sunday afternoon, Florida plays Georgia State and USF. The home opener will be held Tuesday, February 11, against Team USA as they prepare for the 2020 Olympics this summer in Tokyo.

    Florida opens the season ranked 9th in the nation after concluding last season in Oklahoma City and finishing ranked 7th.

    The nation’s top ranked team and the only SEC team ranked ahead of Florida to begin the season is Alabama. The Crimson Tide ended Florida’s season last year when they defeated the Gators in the Women’s College World Series. The Gators are coming off back-to-back SEC championships and have reached the Women’s College World Series in 10 of the past 12 seasons. To say expectations for Florida softball are high this year would not be an understatement.

    With that said, Florida lost several notable seniors from last season. Among the seniors lost are outfielder Amanda Lorenz and pitcher Kelly Barnhill. Lorenz hit lead off for the Gators last season, leading the team in batting average (.422) and runs scored (57). Barnhill was Florida’s clear ace last season, and the Gators leaned on her heavily down the stretch. She went 34-14 with a 1.61 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP.

    On the bright side, Florida returns seven of its nine starters from last season and welcomes six freshmen. The Gators boast an experienced lineup led by five seniors. Look for senior catcher Kendyl Lindaman to bring some power to the lineup. Lindaman led the team with 15 home runs and 54 RBIs last year.

    https://twitter.com/GatorsSB/status/1222632839104978944?s=20″>

    As far as pitching goes, Florida will need to fill the void following Kelly Barnhill’s farewell. The Gators will likely lean on Natalie Lugo and Elizabeth Hightower in the circle this year. The two combined for over 130 innings pitched and a 12-4 record last season. Florida welcomes freshman Rylee Trlicek, whom hopes to give the pitching staff a boost. Trlicek was named to the 2019 U-19 USA Women’s National Team and won 2019 Texas Softball Gatorade Player of the Year.

    Head coach, Tim Walton, enters his 15th season at Florida with a jaw-dropping 771-167 career record.

  • MBB: Gators rally from 22-down for win over rival Georgia

    MBB: Gators rally from 22-down for win over rival Georgia

    Final: Florida 81, Georgia 75

    Photo by Michael Reaves / Getty Images

    It was truly a tale of two halves on Wednesday as the Florida Gators went from being routed to storming back and taking the lead in less than one half of play.

    The first half was the Anthony Edwards show as the Georgia freshman recorded 18 points on 7-9 from the floor in the opening twenty minutes. The Gators entered the intermission trailing by 15 at 41-26.

    The Bulldogs opened the lead to 52-30 with 16:43 remaining, but Florida then rallied via a 39-7 run that saw the Gators take a 69-59 advantage with just 5:56 to play.

    Georgia immediately went on a 7-0 run to close the gap, but the Gators were able to close out the Bulldogs over the final minutes of the game.

    Gators freshman wing Scottie Lewis made a huge block in the final minute that allowed Florida to close the door on the contest.

    Individual Stats:

    • Andrew Nembhard: 25 points, 10-16 FG, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
    • Keyontae Johnson: 15 points, 7 rebounds
    • Kerry Blackshear: 12 points, 6 rebounds
    • Tre Mann: 11 points

    Team Stats:

    • FG% : 48
    • 3FG% : 39
    • FT% : 78
    • Reb+/- : +6
    • Assists: 8
    • TO: 11
    • Bench Points: 18

    What’s Next:

    Florida will travel to Mississippi on Saturday to face the Rebels at 2:00 PM. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

    Ole Miss is 10-11 on the season and the Gators defeated the Rebels by 16 when the two teams met in Gainesville in January.

  • Looking Ahead To National Signing Day

    Looking Ahead To National Signing Day

    Photo by Stephen Lew / Getty Images

    National Signing Day is this Wednesday and the Gators are hoping to finish strong. There are a total of nine unsigned top-100 recruits, five of which are verbally committed to their respective schools of choice. For Florida to move up in the final recruiting rankings, they need to make a serious play for at least one of these remaining recruits.

    Currently, the Gators enjoy a comfortable lead over ninth-ranked Oklahoma and should be in no serious danger of falling in the rankings. However, with a strong showing on Wednesday, they could leap-frog Auburn and Texas A&M to finish as high as sixth. So what will it take to get there? Let’s take a look at the most likely candidates to find out.

    If Florida whiffs on every other top-100 target — which could very well happen — Avantae Williams’ commitment would be enough to push the Gators ahead of Auburn with a score of 279.84. Williams is considered to be the 44th best player at any position in this cycle and would add talented depth to the Gators secondary. 247Sports gives the four-star safety out of Deland a composite score of 0.9769.

    The Gators are also in contention for a pair of top-100 recruits out of the state of Georgia. They will have their work cut out for them, luring the tandem away from Georgia and Georgia Tech, however.

    Jamhyr Gibbs is one of the nation’s most coveted running backs and is regarded as the number 75 ranked player in the cycle. The speedy back has been committed to Geoff Collins and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets for some time now, but recently took an official visit to Gainesville. I believe he will remain solid in his commitment but if he were to flip, it would boost the Gators all the way up to 285.31 — combined with Williams — and propel Florida into the number six spot currently occupied by A&M.

    The final piece to this best-case scenario is the nation’s 59th rated recruit, Sedrick Van Pran. Like Gibbs, I expect Van Pran to remain locked into his commitment to Georgia. However, Florida continues to be mentioned in his recruitment and Van Pran did take an official visit to Florida following his visit to Athens. Should mayhem play out and Van Pran joins Gibbs and Williams in signing with the Gators on NSD, would lift the Gators to a final score of 290.78.

    The best-case scenario for the Gators is a sixth-place finish, one spot behind Ohio State. The good news is that Dan Mullen only needs to sign Avantae Williams and either Gibbs or Van Pran — not both — to reach that mark. Even if the Gators only walk away with Williams’ letter of intent, they will most likely move up in the rankings. More importantly, Florida is beginning to make their presence known on the recruiting trail, once again. This class is Mullen’s best since arriving in Gainesville and I expect that trajectory to continue.

  • Nolan Crisp Ready for the 2020 Baseball Season to Begin

    Nolan Crisp Ready for the 2020 Baseball Season to Begin

    Photo by Benjamin Fox / ChompTalk.com

    After a disappointing 2019 season, the Florida Gators are ready to put last season behind them and are looking forward to opening day, next Friday. The 2019 Florida Gators baseball team was one of the youngest and least experienced teams in the country. They relied on a lot of their underclassmen and two early-enrollee freshmen. One of those early enrollees was right-handed pitcher Nolan Crisp.

    Out of high school, Crisp was the 95th ranked prospect and the 30th ranked right-handed pitcher in the country. He and Jud Fabian decided to forgo their high school senior seasons and enroll early at the University of Florida. Early enrollees aren’t as common in baseball as they are in football. Crisp was thrown right into the fire and was counted on to be one of Florida’s horses in the bullpen.

    “The transition was very smooth and we both got acclimated very quickly. All the coaches and players helped us a lot,” Crisp said about getting quickly acclimated with college baseball.

    Nolan Crisp started off his freshmen season strong and was named the team’s closer. Right before SEC play, Crisp had a 2-0 record with a 2.57 ERA and seven saves. “My freshmen season started the way I wanted,” Crisp said.  

    As the season continued, Crisp started to struggle, and he wasn’t as effective. Crisp ended his season with a 4-4 record, 6.41 ERA and team-high eight saves. “Throughout the season I planned to do better. I was never too worried how I was doing, it was more about our team improving. I just wanted to help our team win in any way possible.”

    Over the summer, Crisp had the opportunity to play for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the Cape Cod League. “I had a great time up in the Cape Cod League,” said Crisp. “I had a good pitching coach that taught me a lot. Just being in that amazing league this year really taught me about all the little things about baseball.”

    Going into this season, the Gators have been ranked in the top ten in just about every preseason poll. This Florida team is still pretty young but the talent gap has closed between them and other top programs in the country.

    “This team still has a lot to prove after last season,” Crisp said. “We have added some good pieces and the people we have coming back are ready to get after it this season. We have had a great fall and ironed out a lot of our wrinkles from last season. We are ready for this season.”

    The collegiate baseball media isn’t the only group that has high expectation for this Gators baseball team. “Our team goals are to win a national championship this season! We have all the pieces to do so this season!”

    As for Nolan Crisp, he will be ready when his number gets called. He isn’t worried about cracking the weekend rotation or trying to light up the radar gun. Crisp just wants to be the best he possibly can be and give his team a chance to win. “My personal goals for this season are to help my team be the best we can.”

    The Florida Gators open their 2020 season at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium on February 14th against the Marshall Thundering Herd at 6:30 ET. This will also be the last Opening Day at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium as Florida will move into their new stadium for the 2021 season.

  • WBB: Huge second half leads Gators past No. 13 Kentucky

    WBB: Huge second half leads Gators past No. 13 Kentucky

    Final: Florida 70, Kentucky 62

    Florida women’s basketball hadn’t beaten a ranked team since Cameron Newbauer took over the program. In fact, the Gators hadn’t done so since February 2016.

    On Sunday, Florida dominated the second half against No. 13 Kentucky and rode a 20-3 run in the fourth quarter to a 70-62 win at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington.

    How it happened:

    Offensively, the Gators were a mess in the first half. Florida entered intermission with 19 points and 12 turnovers. The Gators trailed by ten at the break.

    Florida found the response they were looking for when play resumed.

    Lavender Briggs, who shot 0-7 in the opening twenty minutes, found her stride as she made a concerted effort to get to the rim rather than settle for mid-range jumpers.

    The Gators outscored the Wildcats 24-17 in the third quarter to close the gap to three at 46-43.

    Kentucky opened the fourth quarter with the first five points to stretch the advantage to eight, but Briggs knives down a three to make it a five point lead.

    A Briggs three with 5:12 to play gave Florida the lead at 54-53 and the Gators wouldn’t look back. The UF lead stretched to as many as 11 after a Nina Rickards trey with 2:40 to play.

    Florida played with an intensity that had been missing for much of the season.

    The Gators snapped a five game losing streak and are now 3-6 in SEC play and 12-10 overall.

    Individual Stats:

    • Lavender Briggs: 18 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists
    • Zada Williams: 12 points, 12 rebounds, 5-6 FG
    • Nina Rickards: 12 points, 2-3 3FG
    • Kiki Smith: 8 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists
    • Brylee Bartram: 9 points, 3-7 3FG

    Team Stats:

    • FG% : 42
    • 3FG% : 40
    • FT% : 60
    • Reb+/- : +18
    • Assists : 17
    • TO: 24
    • Bench Points: 17

    What’s Next:

    Florida returns to the hardwood in one week when they welcome rival Georgia to Exactech Arena.

    The Bulldogs are 12-9 on the season including a 3-5 mark in league play. UGA will face Mississippi State on Monday and Missouri on Thursday prior to meeting Florida.

  • MBB: Florida snaps skid with win at Vanderbilt

    MBB: Florida snaps skid with win at Vanderbilt

    Final: Florida 61, Vanderbilt 55

    Photo by Mary Holt / Getty Images

    Cool February weather prevented both Vanderbilt (8-13, 0-8 SEC) and Florida (13-8, 5-3 SEC) from heating up in Saturday’s contest at Memorial Gymnasium.

    As of late, head coach Mike White has lamented over his team’s inefficiency on the defensive end of the court. Prior to Saturday, the Gators were ranked 71st in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency — the lowest ever in White’s tenure. Poor defensive numbers contributed to three consecutive losses for the Gators before their trip to Vanderbilt.

    A loss in Nashville would have shattered their tournament chances. With a win against the Commodores, Florida fought off the “Fire Mike White” hive and kept their tournament dreams alive for, at least, another few days.

    While the Gators’ defensive numbers improved from their last three games, there’s still much about Saturday night’s performance to be concerned about. Florida generated 17 turnovers after averaging 10 in its last three losses, but continued to struggle on th glass. In its last three games, Florida was been out rebounded 106-80. Against Vandy, it was 37-28.The Gators managed to not blow an early lead this weekend, but did allow the deficit to shrink from 18 points in the second half to six with 2:36 left to play.

    In the first half, neither team could buy a basket. Both the Gators and the Commodores combined for 5 of 26 beyond the arc. Vanderbilt entered Saturday’s contest averaging a little over eight threes per game, but was only able to drain six against Florida all night.

    Sloppy offensive play by the Commodores resulted in 10 turnovers in the first half alone. Florida failed to capitalized off Vandy’s mistakes, converting those 10 turnovers into a mere six points.

    The Gators made their way to the locker room with a narrow five point lead.

    The second half, typically the time of games where Florida drops off on at least one end of the court, marked a surge in energy for both teams.

    Sophomore forward Keyontae Johnson led the Gators in scoring with 20 points, including six from three. Johnson also led the team in rebounds along with graduate transfer Kerry Blacksheer Jr., each snatching seven boards. Not far behind was sophomore guard Noah Locke, who scored 17 points and made five threes against the Commodores.

    Vanderbilt was led in scoring by freshman guard Scottie Pippen Jr., who averages 11.1 points per game, but scored 15 against the Gators. After shooting 29 percent in the first half, the Commodores shot 48 percent in the second, allowing them to stay in the game right until the end.

    Forced to foul and unable to make shots as the clock wound down, the Commodores fell to Florida, 61-55, snapping the Gators’ three-game losing streak.

    The next couple of games look promising for the Gators, who will face Georgia (12-9, 2-6 SEC) and Ole Miss (10-11, 1-7 SEC) in Gainesville and Oxford, Mississippi, respectively. Florida will have to take advantage of these match ups, using them to generate some momentum and confidence before they face No. 13 Kentucky in Lexington on Feb. 22.

  • Bradley Beal failed by NBA All-Star selection process

    Bradley Beal failed by NBA All-Star selection process

    Photo by Patrick McDermott / Getty Images

    Bradley Beal is playing the best basketball of his life.

    The eighth-year veteran is averaging career highs in points (28.7, sixth in the NBA), assists (6.4), free throw attempts (7.9) and free throw makes (6.7).

    But despite being selected an All-Star each of the last two seasons, Beal was denied an invitation to Chicago for 2019-20.

    Maybe it’s because he’s shooting a career-low .325 from three (which honestly makes his career-high in points that much more impressive). Maybe it’s because he missed seven games due to injury when he played all 82 the past two seasons.

    Or maybe — and most likely — Bradley Beal was failed by a faulty selection process and is unlucky to play in the East. Maybe if he played in the West, we wouldn’t be having this “snub” conversation right now.

    NBA All-Stars are determined by two means of selection.

    Starters are selected by three voting pools: fans (50 percent), media (25 percent) and players (25 percent). A weighted score is calculated from those votes, and — in the case of Eastern Conference guards — the top two players are determined to be starters.

    Reserves are chosen by the coaches. Conference coaches pick their top seven players, and the players with the most votes gain All-Star status.

    Beal was voted the No. 2 guard in the East according to NBA players (behind Kemba Walker). But because he’s on a 16-31 Wizards squad, he suffered in the fan and media vote.

    No worry. This is why we have the coaches’ vote, right? So players like Beal, who are highly respected by their peers, don’t go unrewarded.

    Wrong.

    In the Eastern Conference, coaches valued wins over stats. All of the players from the Eastern reserves are on teams in the top six of the conference. This included first-time All Stars Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat, Domantas Sabonis of the Indiana Pacers and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.

    In the West, coaches seem to care less about your team’s record. Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans and Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers were both selected despite their teams being outside of the playoff bracket. After all, the All-Star game is a showcase of the best players, not the best teams.

    The rift in selection method between the Eastern coaches and Western coaches caused Beal himself to call the vote “disrespectful,” while his agent, Mark Bartelstein, regarded it as something more personal.

    “He has gone and played his heart out every single night to try and make them (the Wizards) as competitive as they can be,” Bartelstein said, “and coaches have held it against him that he decided to stay the course with his team instead of jumping ship and joining someone’s bandwagon.”

    Whether personal or not, Beal’s snub shows the All-Star selection process is a failure.

    The NBA pivoted to this process in 2016-17 to stop the game from being a fan popularity contest. Yet, on February 16 in Chicago, one of the NBA’s best players will not join his peers on the floor for the All Star game and through no fault of his own.

    That’s a damn shame.

    Mark Stine is a contributing writer to Chomp Talk. Follow him on Twitter @mstinejr.

  • WGYM: With W at Kentucky, Florida Becomes Only Undefeated Team in SEC

    WGYM: With W at Kentucky, Florida Becomes Only Undefeated Team in SEC

    After last season’s disappointment, Florida head coach Jenny Rowland knew that this year would be a big year for her team – it would be comeback season, with the Gators vowing to channel their sorrow and regret into a fire that would fuel them for their best year yet. It’s clear now: as the only undefeated team in the SEC and the owners of the highest score in the nation thus far this season, Florida is making good on the promise they made themselves.

    Friday night in Kentucky brought out some highs and some new things to work on, as the Gators continue to improve. With Nya Reed out sick, the Gators were tested in their depth on vault and floor, while the challenge on bars and beam was continuing their high-scoring streak after last week’s triumph (and record-matching beam score).

    As the away team, the Gators went to bars first, where freshman Payton Richards continued to serve in the leadoff spot she’s come to call home. The landings here were not nearly as sticky-footed as they are at home, but sophomores Trinity Thomas and Savannah Schoenherr delivered a pair of excellent routines to cap off the rotation, earning 9.925 and 9.9, respectively. Notably, Maegan Chant also performed in the exhibition slot, having returned from her minor hand injury that kept her out of Orange and Blue Intrasquad in December. Meanwhile, Kentucky struggled with landings on vault, with only two 10.0 SV vaults in Ariana Patterson and Mollie Korth, compared to Florida’s usual five.

    However, Friday’s vault lineup only featured four 10.0 starts, since Reed was out sick and didn’t even travel with the team to Lexington. Megan Skaggs stepped into the leadoff spot and stuck her gorgeous Yurchenko full for a 9.9, setting the tone for what would be Florida’s best vault team score so far this season. The squad is starting to dial in on those landings, as hops are smaller and smaller every week. This week, it culminated in Richards nailing her best Y1.5 thus far, with just a miniscule hop forward to earn a 9.925, her new career high. Vault featured another notable exhibition, as Jazmyn Foberg showed a Yfull that could definitely contend for a lineup spot now that it’s ready. While the Gators knocked vault out of the park, Kentucky went to bars, where handstand and leg separation issues plagued them. The Wildcats only earned one score higher than a 9.825 – Cally Nixon’s 9.9, punctuated by a perfectly stuck landing. At the halfway point, the Gators were up with a comfortable lead, 98.850 to Kentucky’s 98.275.

    Florida continued to assert their dominance on floor, with Sydney Johnson-Scharpf stepping back into the lineup, due to Reed’s absence, after Richards stepped in for the former last week. Richards led off this event as well, only earning a 9.775, but the team continued to build from there, with Johnson-Scharpf unveiling her double arabian for the first time this season for a 9.875. Alyssa Baumann and Thomas were the highlights of this rotation, earning 9.925 and 9.95 respectively. Baumann in particular nailed the landings on her tumbling passes, not needing to dance out of her passes as she does frequently. Again, it’s apparent that the Gators are working on dialing in these landings a lot more, as this has been a key factor preventing them from scoring higher. As Florida was showing improvement on floor, Kentucky had some issues on beam. Though they were able to drop a fall from senior star Korth, the Cats still had to count a 9.725 and 9.775, essentially extending Florida’s lead. Hailey Poland, famous for her iconic blue lipstick, was the highlight of their rotation – she earned a 9.850 as “Ice Ice Baby” pumped up the crowd in the background.

    Finally, Florida went to beam, where last week it matched its program record on the event. Amelia Hundley had a few balance checks to lead off, but fought to stay on like the rock that she is. Her 9.775 was the score the Gators were able to drop, though, with the rest of the rotation going 9.85 or higher. Thomas again was a highlight, here, earning a 9.95 for her strong showing – the only flaw being a small shuffle on her dismount. As the meet wrapped up, Kentucky hit its best event of the night on floor. The Cats earned 49.3 total despite some landing issues for some. Korth capped off the night with a 9.925 with her huge full-in and floaty Rudi to layout-stepout combination pass. The Gators finished the night with the win, 197.8 to Kentucky’s 196.6.

    A 197.8 at an away meet will be a huge boon to Florida when it comes time for RQS. For those newer to the sport, RQS is the Regional Qualifying Score, which takes each team’s top three away meets, the top three remaining scores regardless of location, drops the lowest, and then averages the remaining five. Away scores are emphasized here because it minimizes home scoring bias, a phenomenon frequently present in top scoring teams like Florida. If a team can score big away from its home arena, that is essential to a high RQS score and will be beneficial as the end of the regular season approaches. Florida has shown this week that it is fully capable of scores like that – it’s just the ability to replicate these results that will cement the Gators as one of the lead title contenders this year.

  • Reports: Gators To Add Charlie Strong and Kerwin Bell To Support Staff

    Reports: Gators To Add Charlie Strong and Kerwin Bell To Support Staff

    Photo by Mark Goldman / Getty Images

    The Florida Gators are expected to announce the homecoming of former defensive coordinator Charlie Strong and quarterback, Kerwin Bell.

    Pat Dooley broke the news that Dan Mullen was planning to hire Strong to an off-field analyst position. However, it was Buddy Martin who later broke the news that Bell would be joining the staff as well.

    Martin made the announcement via Twitter, saying, “My sources say both Charlie Strong and his USF offensive coordinator Kerwin Bell are about to be added as Dan Mullen’s analysts.” Strong was an integral piece to the Gators’ national championship seasons in 2006 and 2008 before leaving to become the head coach at the University of Louisville. Bell started as the Gators’ quarterback from 1984-1987 and spent the remainder of his playing days in the NFL and the CFL. As the head coach of Division II Valdosta State, Bell led the Blazers to a 14-0 record, a national championship, and his offense averaged 52 points per game.

    The addition of these two Gators will only strengthen Florida’s program with their astute knowledge of the game, the culture, and the South Florida recruiting footprint that the Gators have been working so diligently to reestablish.

  • MBB: Gators blow double-digit lead in loss to MSU

    MBB: Gators blow double-digit lead in loss to MSU

    Photo by Michael Reaves / Getty Images

    Despite holding a sixteen point lead with six minutes to play in the first half and then point lead at the intermission, the Florida Gators dropped to 12-8 with a 78-71 home loss to Mississippi State.

    How it happened:

    Florida came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, just as they did against No. 1 Baylor on Saturday. Florida’s freshmen dominated the first half. A type of domination that they were hyped up to have. The freshman combined 10-17 from the floor through the first 10 minutes of the game and totaled 18 points together.

    Florida was lead by Scottie Lewis who went 5 for 6 from the field and 3 for 4 from behind the arc for 13 points. But Florida got it done on the defensive end as well, lead by a huge Omar Payne stuff at the rim midway through the first half.

    Kerry Blackshear continued to do his thing, on his birthday, sporting the #24, he was due for something special. His first half line read a solid 7 point, 4 rebound effort.

    Florida took a 10 point lead into the break at 45-35. But this 10 point lead would fade fast as Mississippi State came out of the break and cut the lead down to seven with 15:41 remaining.

    Mississippi State went on a 7-0 run from the 15-minute mark until the under-12 media break. To this point Florida had scored only seven points in the half. This 7-0 Bulldogs run stemmed from a frustratingly sterotypical four minute scoring drought for the Gators.

    Mississippi State ended up tying the game up with 11 minutes to go in the game and things stayed within one possession for a while. The Bulldogs however, took their first lead since the beginning of the game with just under nine to play.

    Mississippi state seemed to figure out how to slow down the Florida freshman attack. As the freshman combined for 25 in the first half and through 13 minutes of the second they had combined for just six.

    Mississippi State extended their lead to sixwith 3:30 left in the half. Down the stretch, Florida hit another wall, a three minute drought, which allowed Mississippi State to extend the lead to 73-66 with two minutes to play.

    A final nail in the coffin happened with :39 left on the clock. MSU’s DJ Stewart missed the front end of a one and one, but Florida did a poor job of boxing out and Robert Woodard clutched the board and got fouled going up for a lay-in.

    Fast Facts

    Nembhard: 10 points 3 assists

    Locke: 5 points 3 assists

    Johnson: 10 points 5 rebounds

    Lewis: 17 points 1 rebound

    Blackshear: 13 points 7 rebounds

    Quick Stats

    FG: 46%

    3FG: 38%

    TO: 11

    FT: 77%

    Rebound +/-: -7

    Up Next

    Florida is back in action on Saturday Feb 1, in Nashville as the 12-8 Gators take on a struggling 8-11 Commodore team.