Mississippi St. 80, Florida 71

Published Mar. 5, 2009 3:40 a.m. ET

foxsports

Ravern Johnson scored 15 points to lead Mississippi State to an 80-71 victory over Florida on Wednesday night, ending the Gators' hopes of capturing the Southeastern Conference East crown. The win put Mississippi State (18-12, 8-7) back into contention to finish second in the SEC Western Division. The Gators (21-9, 8-7) were only 7 of 25 from the 3-point line. After 10 lead changes, Mississippi State ended the first half on a 7-0 run to lead 42-33. The Bulldogs never trailed in the second half and led by as many as 16 points. Jarvis Varnado had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs, and Barry Stewart added 12 points. Walter Hodge paced the Gators with 20 points, Alex Tyus had 16 points, Nick Calathes added 11 points and Dan Werner chipped in 10.