No. 1 MSU defeated the University of Florida 58-52 Saturday night at Breslin Center. MSU defeated the Gators in the 2000 national championship and all but three of the players from the 2000 team were honored at halftime.
Senior forward Denzel Valentine led the way for MSU with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assist, while only shooting 5-17 from the field, including 3-11 from the three point line.
Florida’s leading scorer senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith scored 13 points for Florida, but was held to just three points in the second half, as the MSU defense locked in on him.
From the opening tip, the game was marked by defense and physical play by both sides, as both teams saw bodies hitting the floor, reminiscent of the toughness the Gators and Spartans displayed in the 2000 championship game.
MSU opened up the second half looking as if they were going to pull away after a very tough first half shooting, going on an 8-2 run to give them an eight point lead at 35-27. However, Florida would not go away behind reserve sophomore guard Chris Chiozza who had 11 points off the bench.
Florida took their first lead of the game 45-44 with 9:49 to play in the game, and the game would stay deadlocked from there with the teams going back and forth.
MSU used a 12-5 lead to take a 56-50 lead with just over two minutes to play in the game.
And that's the way it would stay until Florida's junior guard Kasey Hill made a layup while being fouled with under a minute to go to bring Florida within four at 56-52, but was unable to convert the and-one.
MSU turned the ball over on the next possession, but Florida was unable to capitalize, forcing them to foul Valentine, who knocked down both free throws to give MSU a 58-52 lead with 20 seconds to play.
Neither team was able to get going offensively in the game, as each team played tight defense causing MSU to only shoot 36.8 percent from the field and 5-25 from three, while Florida was held to only 33.3 percent from the field, including 4-18 from three.
MSU struggled in the first half to take care of the ball against Florida’s pressure defense, turning the ball over nine times in the first half, leading to nine Florida points, however MSU straightened out and only turned it over three times in the second half, leading to only three Florida points.
MSU’s bench continued to play well for them, as freshman guard Matt McQuaid came off the bench to score 5 points, with fellow freshman forward Deyonta Davis contributing 3 points and 5 rebounds.
MSU outrebounded Florida 45-34, while Florida went 10-18 from the free throw line, to MSU’s 11-15 from the line.
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