MSU Knocks Out Gators

Mississippi St. stops Florida in SEC quarterfinals

Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Barry Stewart scored 17 points and hit five late free throws as Mississippi State held on to defeat Florida 75-69 in the Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinals on Friday night.

The Bulldogs (22-9) will face the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between No. 20 Vanderbilt and Georgia, who were to play late Friday night.

Mississippi State held a 58-39 lead with 13:29 left when it fell into a 6-minute scoring drought.

The Gators (21-12) took advantage with a 14-0 run. A 3-pointer by Erving Walker and a free throw by Chandler Parsons cut Mississippi State's lead to 58-53 with 8:17 left.

Kenny Boynton hit a jump shot over Jarvis Varnado's head to cut Mississippi State's lead to 71-68 with 27 seconds left, but Stewart hit 5 of 6 free throw attempts down the stretch to preserve the win.

Boynton led Florida with 23 points.

Man oh man! Wouldn't it be nice to meet them in the championship and rub their fans noses in SH-T AGAIN.