An overtime period was needed for Mississippi State to beat Florida by one point. The Bulldogs blew a double-digit lead and survived two would-be game-winners that clanged off the rim. The Bulldogs’ prize for advancing in the Southeastern Conference tournament? A well-rested Alabama in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Chris Jan, State’s spirited first-year coach, commended his players for their performance postgame. As he got through his opening statement and players answered questions, though, Jan’s attention was called to tomorrow’s rematch against the No. 1 seed Tide.

“I’d like to enjoy this for a little bit but that’s not the way it works in conference tournament play,” Jan joked with reporters. “…They’ve got great players, great coaches. We haven’t been able to beat him and we’ve had two cracks at it but what an opportunity and obviously a big challenge for us.”

Putting all his attention on Florida before the Bulldogs (22-11, 8-10 SEC) arrived in Bridgestone Arena, Jan said he hasn’t “watched a minute” of Alabama’s (26-5, 16-2) film since their last meeting in January. While he should have some familiarity from their prior two matchups — the Tide won both by a combined 10 points — Jan trusted his assistants for the advanced scouting.

However, not much has changed offensively for the Bulldogs of late. Jan wanted to say his team has improved its scoring ability since losing 66-63 in Tuscaloosa on Jan. 25, but couldn’t after his team shot 25-of-64 overall and 14.3% from deep. Jan deferred to the toughness and experience players have gained since losing to the Tide.

Mississippi State scores the second-fewest points in the conference per game (66.4). Redshirt-senior Tolu Smith remains the focal point. His 58.3% field-goal rate leads the SEC. The 6-foot-11, 245-pound forward scored a season-high 28 points against the Gators, scoring the go-ahead bucket in the final minute of overtime.

Alabama held Smith to five points when the teams first met on Dec. 28. He improved to 15 points in the follow-up. Smith said he did a better job of getting low-post positioning inside on Alabama’s bigs, such as Noah Clowney and Charles Bediako and Noah Clowney. Smith’s weakness is his free-throw shooting, missing 12 of 15 tries in December (His career rate from the line is 60.1%.)

“I just think the third time’s the charm,” Smith said after beating Florida. “I think we have a really good chance to get a win.

“It’s hard (to defend star freshman Brandon Miller) but I think we got some guys who are ready to sit down and lock in. … I don’t think we’re scared of nobody. I think we’re ready to attack them.”

Miller, who’s been the subject of national attention as information is made public in his involvement with the Jan. 15 shooting on the Tuscaloosa strip, has scored 32 points against the Bulldogs in the two matchups. In his last four games since the news broke, Miller has averaged 25.3 points a contest.

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Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].