Free Live Odds - Scores and Odds - Sports News - Sports Information - Live Scores - Sports Statistics - Sports Articles - Sports Standings - Live Scor

GAME NOTES: The Mississippi State Bulldogs, the top seed from the SEC's West Division, will take on the Florida Gators, the East's fourth seed, in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament tonight in Nashville.

The winner of this game will move on to Saturday's semifinal round to battle either Vanderbilt or Georgia.

Florida earned its spot in this game with a 78-69 triumph over Auburn in yesterday's first round. The Gators own a 21-11 overall record, and a 20-win season previously assured teams from major conferences of a berth in the NCAA Tournament. However, programs are playing more games than ever, so Florida may need a win tonight to punch its "dance" ticket. Florida owns a 33-41 all-time record in this event, but it captured three straight titles from 2005-2007, so the majority of the success has been recent.

MSU is the defending champion of this event, as it defeated Tennessee in a 64-61 final in the 2009 title game, and the program has three SEC crowns to its credit. Still, the 25-46 record at this event is poor. This season, the Bulldogs are 21-10 overall, including 9-7 in league play, but they closed out the regular season with back-to-back losses and figure to need a strong performance in this tournament to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Florida beat Mississippi State by a 69-62 final during the regular season, and the Gators own a 57-47 series advantage over the Bulldogs.

There are some obvious reasons that Florida was able to get past Auburn yesterday. The Gators finished that game with 17 assists against only seven turnovers and shot a solid 49.1 percent from the floor, including 7-of-15 from three-point range. A 17-9 edge in points from the foul line clearly helped the cause as well. Alex Tyus was outstanding in the victory, as he poured in 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field. Chandler Parsons was close behind with 21 points, and Vernon Macklin contributed 10 points. Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker combined to shoot 3-of-13 from the field, and the backcourt duo must shoot better today. Boynton leads the team with 13.3 ppg, and Walker is second with 12.4 ppg and tops with 161 assists. Parsons and Tyus are both generating 12.2 ppg, and Tyus is pulling down 6.9 rpg. As for Macklin, the team's center, he contributes 10.6 ppg. Florida is netting 71.7 ppg while allowing 65.1 ppg.

The man to watch for the Bulldogs is star forward/center Jarvis Varnado, who recently became the NCAA's all-time leader in blocked shots and was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year for a third consecutive season. In addition to his 4.8 rejections per outing, Varnado also paces the conference in rebounding (10.6 ppg) and is scoring 13.5 ppg as well. Mississippi State is the best defensive team in the league in regard to scoring defense (64.4 ppg), and the club is limiting opponents to 38.4 percent shooting from the field. Dee Bost is a tremendous distributor at point guard who ranks second in the SEC in assists (5.4 apg) in addition to his 12.9 ppg. The leading scorer for MSU is Ravern Johnson with his 13.5 ppg, and Barry Stewart rounds out a foursome of double-digit contributors with 11.5 ppg.

Varnado will be the best player on the court for either team and will lead his Bulldogs to a narrow win over Florida. Both of these teams need a win tonight, so expect the intensity to be incredibly high.