Florida Gators at Mississippi State Bulldogs

McCowan scores 23, No. 2 Mississippi St beats Florida 90-53

These days, the 5-foot-7 senior is starting. And on nights like Thursday she's pretty much indispensable.

Schaefer made five 3-pointers, Teaira McCowan led all scorers with 23 points and No. 2 Mississippi State beat Florida 90-53 for its school-record 21st straight victory to start the season.

"It's just so much fun when you have nights like this when your team finds you," Schaefer said. "It's basically up to the defense on who to guard, so every night, it can be someone different."

McCowan shot 9 of 13 from the field and added eight rebounds and two blocks. Victoria Vivians scored 17 points. The Bulldogs scored 48 points in the paint.

Mississippi State (21-0, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) shot 54 percent from the field, including 67 percent in the second half. Schaefer finished with 15 points, making 5 of 8 shots from 3-point range.

Florida (10-11, 2-6) briefly made things interesting in the second quarter, cutting a 10-point deficit to 22-20 thanks to a 10-2 run.

Other nights, she pours in the points when the defense doesn't rotate fast enough.

"You just tell her to stand over their on the wing and she opens up the floor for everyone else because they have to go guard her," Vic Schaefer said. "She's shooting the ball at a really high level."

The Gators could never close the gap in the second half. Mississippi State pushed out to a 66-37 lead by the end of the third quarter and cruised to its 21st straight victory.

"I just want to compliment my team," Vic Schaefer said. "It's extremely hard to do what they're doing."

Florida was led Funda Nakkasoglu, who scored 19 points on 7 of 13 shooting. The Gators were hurt by 23 turnovers.

BIG PICTURE

"I'm very proud of the effort we put forward tonight," Newbauer said. "We got better tonight as a group, as a team. I'm proud that we outrebounded them and have 15 offensive rebounds."

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs looked a little sluggish early, which wasn't surprising since they were coming off an impressive 71-52 win over then-No. 6 Tennessee. Mississippi State recovered thanks to a balanced effort from Schaefer, Vivians and McCowan.

UP NEXT

Florida hosts No. 21 Georgia on Sunday.

Mississippi State travels to play at Ole Miss on Sunday.

How can I watch Gators vs. Bulldogs?

• TV Channel: Gators vs Bulldogs 2021 College Basketball, week 12, is broadcasted on SEC Network.
• Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Location: Starkville, MS
Attendance: 6,727 | Capacity: