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Gators get cure for Hogs blues

Florida guard Mike Rosario (3) goes up for an off-balance shot against Mississippi State’s Roquez Johnson in the Gators’ 83-58 victory over the Bulldogs in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday.
Florida guard Mike Rosario (3) goes up for an off-balance shot against Mississippi State’s Roquez Johnson in the Gators’ 83-58 victory over the Bulldogs in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday.

— No. 2 Florida played without forward Will Yeguete, benched starting point guard Scottie Wilbekin and got an injury scare from Erik Murphy.

It didn’t matter against Mississippi State.

Mike Rosario scored 18 points, Murphy added 17 before leaving with a sprained ankle and the Gators bounced back from a humbling loss earlier in the week to top the short-handed Bulldogs 83-58 on Saturday.

“When we play like that, it’s hard to beat us,” guard Kenny Boynton said.

The game looked every bit like a match up of the SEC’s best and worst teams, and gave the Gators a chance to work out any frustrations after their 80-69 loss at Arkansas on Tuesday.

Then again, it wasn’t nearly as lopsided as the 35-point beat down Florida handed Mississippi State on its home court two weeks ago.

Casey Prather, playing in place of Yeguete, chipped in with 12 points and five rebounds. Yeguete had arthroscopic surgery Friday on his right knee and will miss at least the rest of the regular season.

The Gators (19-3, 9-1 SEC) went 4-5 without him last season, but handled his absence much better against the Bulldogs.

“Obviously, he’s a big piece of our team that we lost,” said Michael Frazier II, who finished with 11 points and six rebounds in his first career start. “But we’ve got to play together, play hard and try to make up for what he brought to the team.”

Mississippi State (7-15, 2-8) played without guard Jalen Steele, who didn’t make thetrip after being suspended indefinitely for violating team rules.

It was a big blow for a team already down three players.

Freshmen Andre Applewhite and Jacoby Davis are out for the season with knee injuries, and senior Wendell Lewis is sidelined with a fractured right patella.

Gavin Ware led the Bulldogs, who have lost eight in a row, with 16 points. Colin Borchert added 14 and Trivante Bloodman had 10.

NO. 21 MISSOURI 98, MISSISSIPPI 79

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Alex Oriakhi had a career-high 22 points to go with 18 rebounds, 3 blocks and a central role in a second-half fracas of No. 21 Missouri’s victory over Mississippi.

Phil Pressey had four assists to break Anthony Peeler’s career school record and had 22 points for Missouri (17-6, 6-4 SEC), which bounced back from its latest discouraging road loss, a one point setback at Texas A&M on Thursday. The Tigers are 14-0 at home and 0-5 on the road.

Marshall Henderson had 16 points on 4-for-15 shooting for Ole Miss (18-5, 7-3), which was ranked as high as No,. 16 two weeks ago, but has lost three of four. Jarvis Summers also had 16 points while Murphy Holloway, coming off a career-best 24 points, was held to seven in 30 minutes.

KENTUCKY 72, AUBURN 62

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Kyle Wiltjer scored 14 points and Kentucky outlasted Auburn for its fifth consecutive victory.

Kentucky (17-6, 8-2 SEC) survived physical and sometimes chippy play by Auburn, which saw center Rob Chubb and backup Asauhn Dixon-Tatum foul out. The Wildcats made 26 of 38 free throws to beat Auburn for the 15th consecutive time.

Ryan Harrow and Willie Cauley-Stein each added 12 points, while Julius Mays and Nerlens Noel had 10 apiece. Noel added 11 rebounds but blocked his only shot in the final minutes.

Chris Denson’s 15 points led Auburn (9-14, 3-7).

Both teams shot 43 percent, with Kentucky hitting 20 of 46 from the field while Auburn, which had been averaging 40 percent per game, was 22 of 51. The Wildcats out rebounded the Tigers 35-29 but had to work hard for each one.

GEORGIA 52, TEXAS A&M 46

ATHENS, Ga. - Georgia overcame a rare low-scoring game from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and beat cold-shooting Texas A&M, giving the Bulldogs five consecutive SEC victories for the first time in 12 years.

Caldwell-Pope, second in the SEC with his average of 17.8 points per game, had only 10 points - all on free throws. He preserved his streak of scoring at least 10 in every game when he made two free throws with 17 seconds remaining to help hold off a late comeback attempt by the Aggies.

Nemanja Djurisic led Georgia (12-11, 6-4) with 13 points. The Bulldogs have won five consecutive SEC games for the first time since winning six consecutive in 2001.

Fabyon Harris led Texas A&M (14-9, 4-6) with 17 points. Elston Turner had 13 points despite making 2 of 14 shots from the field. Kourtney Roberson had 12 rebounds for Texas A&M.

The Aggies, who lost 59-52 at home to Georgia on Jan. 26, were swept in the season series.

Georgia won despite making 12 shots from the field. Led by Caldwell-Pope’s 10-for-10 shooting, the Bulldogs made 25 of 32 free throws.

ALABAMA 60, LSU 57

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Nick Jacobs scored 15 points and hit two free throws with 46 seconds left to help Alabama top LSU.

The rest of the Crimson Tide (15-8, 7-3 SEC) missed five consecutive free throws down the stretch to keep giving the Tigers (13-8, 4-6) chances to at least tie.

LSU missed all 3 three-pointers in the final minute after pulling out three consecutive victories by a collective five points.

Trevor Releford scored 12 points and Levi Randolph and Rodney Cooper each had 10 for Alabama.

Johnny O’Bryant led LSU with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Shavon Coleman scored nine of his 11 points in the second half before fouling out.

SATURDAY’S GAMES

Vanderbilt 67, Arkansas 49 Missouri 98, Mississippi 79 Kentucky 72, Auburn 62 Florida 83, Mississippi State 58 Georgia 52, Texas A&M 46 Alabama 60, LSU 57

TODAY’S GAME All times Central

Tennessee at South Carolina, noon

Sports, Pages 30 on 02/10/2013

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