GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Mike Rosario scored 18 points, Erik Murphy added 17 and No. 2 Florida bounced back from a humbling loss earlier in the week to thump Mississippi State 83-58 on Saturday.
The game looked every bit like a matchup of the Southeastern Conference’s best and worst teams.
Then again, it wasn’t nearly as lopsided as the 35-point beatdown the Gators handed the Bulldogs on their home court two weeks ago.
Casey Prather, playing in place of injured forward Will Yeguete, chipped in 12 points and five rebounds. Yeguete had arthroscopic surgery Friday to remove loose bodies in his right knee and will miss at least the rest of the regular season.
Florida (19-3, 9-1) went 4-5 without him last season, but was much better against the Bulldogs.
Gavin Ware scored 16 points, Colin Borchert added 14 and Trivante Bloodman chipped in 10 for Mississippi State (7-15, 2-8) — which played without guard Jalen Steele, who didn’t make the trip after being suspended indefinitely for violating team rules.

No. 14 Butler 59,
George Washington 56
WASHINGTON — Rotnei Clark scored 14 points and Butler nearly blew a 17-point lead, going the last 7½ minutes without a field goal, before holding on for a victory over George Washington.
The Colonials cut the lead to one in the final minute and had several 3-point looks in the final 10 seconds that could have sent the game to overtime. Joe McDonald had the final chance, but he was stripped as he went up for the shot just before time expired.
Roosevelt Jones added 12 points for the Bulldogs (20-4, 7-2 Atlantic 10), who broke a two-game road losing streak.
Isaiah Armwood had 14 points and 11 rebounds for George Washington (11-11, 5-4).

No. 23 Pittsburgh 62, No. 17 Cincinnati 52
CINCINNATI — Tray Woodall scored 14 points and led a late surge that sent Pittsburgh to a victory over Cincinnati, keeping the momentum going for one of the Big East’s hottest teams.
The Panthers (20-5, 8-4) have won seven of their last eight games overall and four of their last five on the road. They beat No. 6 Syracuse 65-55 a week ago, vaulting them into the Top 25.
Woodall hit a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer during a 7-0 run that put Pitt ahead to stay with 3:21 left. The conference’s stingiest defense held Cincinnati (18-6, 6-5) without a field goal over the final 9 minutes, 21 seconds.
Sean Kilpatrick led Cincy with 16 points, but missed all seven shots he took after halftime.

No. 20 Georgetown 69, Rutgers 63
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Markel Starks scored 20 points and Otto Porter took over down the stretch to lead Georgetown over Rutgers.
Porter had 15 of his 19 points in the second half and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Hoyas (17-4, 7-3 Big East), who have won five straight and seven of their last eight. Mikael Hopkins had 12 of his 14 points after halftime and D’Vaun Smith-Rivera scored 13.
Eli Carter had 23 points for the Scarlet Knights (12-10, 3-8), who lost their sixth straight.
After a string of nine straight scoring sequences produced either a lead change or tie, Porter scored on a fast-break layup to make it 62-60 with 4:44 left to give the Hoyas the lead for good.

No. 21 Missouri 98, Mississippi 79
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Alex Oriakhi scored a career-high 22 points and added 18 rebounds, three blocks to lead Missouri over Mississippi.
Phil Pressey had four assists to break Anthony Peeler’s school record and had 22 points for Missouri (17-6, 6-4 Southeastern Conference), which bounced back from its latest discouraging road loss, a 1-point setback at Texas A&M on Thursday. The Tigers are 14-0 at home and 0-5 on the road.
Marshall Henderson had 16 points on 4-for-15 shooting for Mississippi (18-5, 7-3), which was on the verge of cracking the Top 25 last week but has lost three of four. Jarvis Summers also had 16 points, while Murphy Holloway, coming off a career-best 24 points, was held to seven in 30 minutes.

No. 22 Oklahoma State 72, Texas 59
AUSTIN, Texas — Marcus Smart scored 23 points and Oklahoma State cruised past struggling Texas for the Cowboys’ fifth straight win.
Markel Brown added 17 points for the Cowboys (17-5, 7-3 Big 12), who sputtered offensively for long stretches but used their own tough defense to clamp down on the Longhorns.
The Cowboys shot 38 percent from the field. Smart found just enough room inside and out to carry the Cowboys past a Texas team having its worst season in 15 years under coach Rick Barnes.
Ioannis Papapetrou scored 15 points to lead Texas (10-13, 2-8). The Longhorns shot 1 of 18 from 3-point range and were just 12 of 21 from the free throw line.

No. 24 Marquette 89, Depaul 78
MILWAUKEE — Vander Blue scored 18 points and Junior Cadougan added 17 as Marquette held off DePaul to send the Blue Demons to their eighth straight loss.
With the win, Marquette (17-5, 8-2) moved one-half game ahead of No. 9 Syracuse for first place in the Big East. Syracuse plays at home Sunday against St. Johns.
Davante Gardner added 13 points for Marquette, which won for the 22nd straight time at home, the fifth-longest streak in the nation.
Brandon Young had 21 points and six assists for DePaul (10-13, 1-9), while Worrel Clahar and Donnavan Kirk added 16 points each.