Quinndary Weatherspoon converted a three-point play with four seconds remaining to lift No. 24 Mississippi State to a 71-68 victory over Florida in a Southeastern Conference game Tuesday night in Starkville, Miss.

The teams went back and forth for the entire game before Weatherspoon made the difference even though he finished with just nine points, eight below his team-leading average.

With the score tied, Weatherspoon brought the ball up the court and drove to the basket, making a layup while being fouled.

Lamar Peters scored 16 points, Tyson Carter added 12 and Aric Holman had 10 for the Bulldogs (13-3, 1-2 SEC).

KeVaughn Allen scored 17, Andrew Nembhard added 13, Noah Locke had 12 and Keyontae Johnson 11 for the Gators, who lost to a ranked team for the second time in four days. Florida (9-7, 1-3) fell at home to No. 3 Tennessee 78-67 on Saturday.

Nick Weatherspoon's jumper started the second-half scoring and doubled Mississippi State's two-point halftime lead before Florida scored nine consecutive points.

Mississippi State's Robert Woodard made a jumper to tie the score at 45. There would be three more ties and six lead changes before Allen made two free throws and a 3-pointer to give the Gators a 66-61 lead with 2:55 remaining.

Holman answered with a 3-pointer for the Bulldogs, and after a Florida miss, Quinndary Weatherspoon's layup pulled Mississippi State even with 1:27 left.

The Gators missed again, and the Bulldogs called timeout with 31 seconds left.

Holman's layup gave Mississippi State the lead with 24 seconds left before Locke's short jumper tied the score with 11 seconds left.

Peters scored five points as Mississippi State raced to a 9-2 lead before Florida found its shooting touch. Four Gators made 3-pointers as they pulled even at 18.

The score was tied twice more before Peters scored 11 points in a row to give the Bulldogs a 34-26 lead.

Johnson made two 3-pointers down the stretch, the second one completing the first-half scoring and pulling Florida within 36-34 at halftime.

--Field Level Media