Chomping at Bits: Late free throws help Florida hold off Mississippi State

Chomping at Bits comes stocked with the best Florida Gators links and news we can find, and some other stuff. Got a link you think we should check out? Email us at AlligatorArmy@gmail.com, subject line CAB, or find us on Twitter at@AlligatorArmy or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AlligatorArmy.

Late free throws push Florida past Mississippi State: John Egbunu made four free throws in the final minute, with each set putting the Gators up by one. Mississippi State had another chance in the closing seconds until KeVaughn Allen grabbed the rebound of Bulldogs point guard I.J. Ready's missed jumper and made a pair of free throws with just over a second left in the game. Florida was 20 of 33 from the free throw line. (Alex Maminakis, Independent Florida Alligator; Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun; Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel)

NCAA Tournament forecast improving for Gators: Florida is 12-6, with recent victories helping to boost the Gators' Ratings Percentage Index to No. 17 out of 351 teams, largely due to Florida's strength of schedule rating. There is still  work for Florida to do in order to get into the field but plenty of opportunities for quality wins remain on the schedule. (Note: These articles were written prior to last night's victory over Mississippi State.) (Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel; Ian Cohen, Independent Florida Alligator)

"I'm obsessed with all of those numbers; I'm not going to lie. First thing I did when I got on the bus when I left Oxford was just to see where some of those numbers were." - Florida head coach Mike White on the data used in the NCAA Tournament selection committee's decisions.

Pressure to be a vocal leader taken off of Dorian Finney-Smith: Mike White initially asked Finney-Smith to be an outspoken leader for the team, which took him out of his comfort zone. Since taking that weight off of his back, Finney-Smith has played his best basketball of the season. (Palm Beach Post)

Florida football coaches visit 21 (!) high schools on Tuesday: The staff also visited Gator commits over the weekend and on Monday. (Zach Abolverdi, SEC Country)

Gator gymnasts receive SEC weekly honors: Bridget Sloan was named SEC Gymnast of the Week and Alicia Boren was named SEC Freshman of the Week. (Florida Gators)

Florida Basketball Trivia:
A) Which Florida player had the most 30 point games in his career? How many did he have?
B) What is Florida's overall biggest win? Who was the opponent and what was the score?
C) Who was the Gators' most recent player to reach 1,000 points scored? How many did he score?
D) Which Gator holds the single season points record for a freshman? How many points did he have?

The comments are yours.