Mississippi guard Trevor Gaskins (23) tries to dribble up court between the first half defense of Florida guards Erving Walker (11) and Kenny Boynton (1) in an NCAA college basketball game in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010. (AP Photo)

The Florida Gators (19-8, 8-4) moved one step closer to an NCAA Tournament berth on Saturday with a hard-fought 64-61 win over Ole Miss (17-9, 5-7) in Oxford.

The Gators capitalized on great free throw shooting to knock off the Rebels, making 25 of 27 attempts at the charity stripe. In their past two games, the Gators have shot 57-67 (85.1%) at the free-throw line.

The Rebels led at the half 30-29, despite Florida center Vernon Macklin scoring 16 first-half points. Macklin finished the game with a game-high 22 points, a new career high.

Florida opened the second half on a 9-3 run and kept the lead for most of the half. Ole Miss took the lead with 2:31 remaining in the game on a three pointer by Terrico White that made the score 56-54.

Florida guard Kenny Boynton helped force a steal two possessions later and went the other way for a dunk to put the Gators ahead for good at 58-56.

The Gators' Erving Walker made six consecutive free throws to ice the game and White's three point attempt at the buzzer to send it to overtime came off the left side of the rim.

The loss for Ole Miss takes them to the brink of NCAA Tournament elimination. The Rebels will likely have to win the SEC Tournament to earn an at-large bid to the Big Dance.

Florida, on the other hand, moves much closer to securing an NCAA Tournament bid. The Gators can likely secure a bid with two more wins in their final four games.

The Gators face Georgia and Kentucky on the road and Tennessee and Vanderbilt at home to close the season.

The win over Ole Miss also gave Florida a perfect 6-0 record against teams from the SEC West for the first time since the 2002-03 season.