Mississippi State lost Thursday against a Tennessee team led offensively by an ex-Bulldog. The leading scorer for MSU’s next opponent, Florida, also started her collegiate career in Starkville.
Aliyah Matharu spent her first two seasons with the Bulldogs, twice earning Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week honors in 2019-20, then reunited with head coach Vic Schaefer at Texas. After one year with the Longhorns, Matharu returned to the SEC with the Gators. She sat out last season due to being a second-time transfer, but now ranks third in the SEC in scoring with 18.4 points per game.
Matharu has scored in double figures in all 16 games this season and is coming off back-to-back 20-plus point performances against Tennessee and Georgia. Florida (10-6, 1-3 SEC) suffered uncharacteristic losses on the road against Marshall and Tulsa in non-conference play, with its best non-conference win coming in a neutral site against Michigan.
The Gators fell to No. 1 South Carolina in their SEC opener, then dropped tight road games to Vanderbilt and Tennessee before defeating Georgia last Sunday. Leilani Correa dropped 30 points on UGA and is 10th in the conference with 15.8 points per contest, while Ra Shaya Kyle is nearly averaging a double-double with 12.4 points and 9.2 rebounds.
South Carolina and LSU are in a class by themselves when it comes to scoring, but Florida is fourth in the SEC with 77.4 points per game. The Gators’ defense has let them down at times, though, as only Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky have given up more points on average than Florida. Fouls have been the Gators’ Achilles heel — at 18.6 per game, they have committed more than any other team in the conference.
Here are three keys to victory for MSU (15-5, 2-3) on Monday night in Gainesville as the Bulldogs try to even their conference record.
Win the battle on the boards
This won’t be an easy task as Florida boasts not just the 6-foot-6-inch Kyle, but also 6-foot-4 forward Faith Dut in an otherwise guard-heavy rotation. But Jessika Carter, who battled foul trouble in MSU’s loss to Tennessee, was held to just five boards against the Volunteers — not exactly a recipe for success. Erynn Barnum pulled down 12 rebounds in a season-high 34 minutes, and she will need to remain in top form to limit the Gators’ second-chance opportunities.
Get Matharu in foul trouble
Matharu could be scoring even more if fouls had not limited her time on the floor in several games this year. She played just 21 minutes against Vanderbilt on Jan. 7 before fouling out with 35 seconds left, and without her Florida had to turn elsewhere for a bucket with the game on the line. Jerkaila Jordan will likely be assigned to Matharu, and when MSU has the ball, Jordan would do well to drive to the basket and try to draw contact from the former Bulldog.
Find open looks on the perimeter
MSU has done a good job of passing up on ill-advised 3-point attempts early in the shot clock in the last few games, instead playing inside-out offense and letting Carter go to work in the paint. Often, drawing the defense in is the best way to get open shots from the outside. Debreasha Powe connected on three of her five attempts from distance against the Volunteers, and while Lauren Park-Lane is at her best as a distributor, Jordan and Darrione Rogers can also be the beneficiaries of the Bulldogs’ penetration.
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