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Final Score: Miss State 62 - Florida 69

Gainesville, FL (Sports Network) - Vernon Macklin's career-high 20 points helped lift the Florida Gators to a 69-62 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs in SEC action at the O'Connell Center.

Chandler Parsons tallied 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Gators (17-6, 6-3 SEC), winners of six of their last seven games.

Mississippi State (16-7, 4-4) has dropped four of its last five, despite 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from Ravern Johnson. Jarvis Varnado recorded a double-double with 16 points and 13 boards, while Barry Stewart scored 12 in the loss.

Mississippi State grabbed a slim 29-27 halftime lead after holding the Gators to 32.3 percent shooting from the floor in the opening period.

Florida eventually took a 10-point lead on a three-pointer by Chandler Parsons with 7:15 remaining, capping a 16-4 run. The Gators led by 12 with two-and-a- half minutes to play, though the Bulldogs did cut the deficit to four with 22 seconds remaining before Florida closed it out at the charity stripe.

The Gators went just 3-of-17 from beyond the arc, but they held a key 46-35 rebounding advantage for the game.