NASHVILLE — Tolu Smith grabbed 12 rebounds and scored a career-high 28 points, including a go-ahead basket in overtime with 4.3 seconds left, and ninth-seeded Mississippi State beat eighth-seeded Florida 69-68 in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
Mississippi State (21-11) advances to play top-seeded, fourth-ranked Alabama (26-5) in Friday’s first quarterfinal at 1 p.m. Eastern. The top four SEC seeds received double byes into the quarterfinals.
The Crimson Tide, who won the SEC regular-season title with a game to spare, will be coming off a 67-61 loss at Texas A&M last Saturday. They swept two regular-season meetings with Mississippi State, 78-67 on Dec. 28 in Starkville and 66-63 on Jan. 25 in Tuscaloosa.
Smith started overtime against Florida (16-16) with a three-point play, and Cameron Matthews dunked it on the Bulldogs’ next possession as their lead grew. Dashawn Davis had his second straight assist that led to a dunk when he lobbed it to Shawn Jones Jr. for a highlight finish and a 64-59 advantage. Florida missed a 3-point attempt, and Smith extended the lead to seven points with a shot in the lane off another assist by Davis.
Gators freshman Riley Kugel made a 3 with 37.1 seconds left to pull within 67-64, and Mississippi State turned it over near midcourt before Kugel was fouled on a drive. He made two free throws, the Bulldogs turned it over again, and Niels Lane scored with 11.8 seconds left to put Florida up 68-67.