GAME NOTES: The Florida State Seminoles and Mississippi State Bulldogs close out their non-conference slates on Friday evening, as the two teams square off at Humphrey Coliseum.

Leonard Hamilton's Seminoles enter play with a season-best four-game win streak in tow. FSU has moved to 8-5 on the season with its recent run and comes in off a thrilling 65-63 victory over rival Florida on Tuesday.

Rick Ray's third season at the helm at Mississippi State has taken a downward turn. The Bulldogs opened the season with five straight victories, but have hit a wall of late, with losses in six of their last seven games. The lone win during that stretch came against Jacksonville (70-47) on Dec. 23, but the team most recently suffered a 66-47 loss at home to McNeese State on Dec. 30.

This marks the ninth all-time meeting in this series between these two teams. The series is knotted up at 4-4. Mississippi State won the last matchup in 2007 (86-71).

The Seminoles got an assist from the Gators at the buzzer that tipped the scales in their favor, earning them the two-point win. Devon Bookert's 3-point attempt was off target, but a Florida player inadvertently tipped it in, giving FSU the win at home. FSU won the game despite shooting just .396 from the floor overall, including a meager .235 from behind the arc. Still, four Seminoles notched double figures in the victory, led by Montay Brandon's 17 points. Xavier Rathan-Mayes added 13 points, while Bookert and Boris Bojanovsky tacked on 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Florida State doesn't put up gaudy offensive numbers on a regular basis, but the team's 70.8 ppg does come efficiently, as the 'Noles are delivering on 47.7 percent of their shots. The team lost leading scorer Aaron Thomas (ineligible) early on, although he still holds the top spot in the scoring column at 14.8 ppg. His departure however, has opened the door for players like Brandon (14.2 ppg), Rathan-Mayes (11.7 ppg) and Bookert (8.9 ppg) to make bigger contributions.

McNeese State scored the first eight points of the game against Mississippi State and never looked back, leading from wire-to-wire in Tuesday's contest. The Bulldogs were able to pull within 11 points in the second half, but the Cowboys went on a 12-0 run to put the game out of reach. MSU was led in the scoring column by Craig Sword, who posted 11 points. I.J. Ready had 10 points, but the remainder of the squad combined for a mere 26 points in the lopsided loss.

The Bulldogs have played well on the defensive end, despite their rather poor run of late. The team is still allowing just 58.1 ppg on the year, as foes are shooting just over 40 percent from the floor (.408). Rebounding has been a strength as well, with MSU holding a +6.8 rebounding margin. However, there just isn't enough scoring punch on the roster. Three Bulldogs are averaging double figures, but none are considered explosive playmakers at that end of the floor. Fred Thomas leads the team with 11.3 ppg. Roquez Johnson is a close second at 11.2 ppg, with Gavin Ware's 10.4 ppg rounding out the set.

The Bulldogs find themselves limping into their SEC slate and things aren't going to get much better against a physical team like Florida State.