Tampa subregional

Double whammy

MICHIGAN ST. 68, UF 46: Spartans stun the No.2 seed with stifling defense.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 24, 2003

TAMPA -- The Florida Gators picked the worst possible time to play their worst game of the season. In fact, their worst game in many seasons.

And because of it, the NCAA will host a Sweet 16 party next week and the Gators won't attend.

With a virtual homecourt advantage and the No.2 seed, Florida ran into a Michigan State team Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament that was better on offense and defense.

Behind a stifling defense and one of its best offensive performances of the season, the No.7 seeded Spartans (21-12) defeated Florida 68-46 in front of 21,304 at the St. Pete Times Forum. The Spartans face Maryland Friday in San Antonio in the South Region semifinals.

It was Florida's lowest point total during coach Billy Donovan's seven-year tenure, matched only by a 71-46 loss to Georgia on Jan.17, 1996.

It was also the second-worst loss in NCAA Tournament history for the Gators, who fell by 23 points to Michigan in 1988.

"It's hard for us to win when we don't shoot the ball well," Donovan said. "I thought Michigan State was great tonight because they had both ends."

Florida (25-8) scored 27 points in the first half, and its 19 second-half points were the fewest in any half this season.

"We didn't make enough shots to win and we didn't stop them enough to win," freshman Matt Walsh said. " ... We just never got it going at all."

The Spartans' performance was so dominating, even their coach, Tom Izzo, was stunned.

"Definitely not," Izzo said when asked if he could ever have imagined such a lopsided result. "I thought if we played really well, we had a chance to be close and then the pressure would be on them. ... So yes, I'm surprised."

A team that has relied heavily on shooting all season -- four starters average in double figures -- never got going offensively. Florida led once, 3-2, three minutes into the game.

The Gators tied the score at 13 with 10:44 left in the first half, but MSU guard Chris Hill answered with a 3-pointer and the Spartans went on to outscore the Gators 17-7 to close out the half. MSU outscored Florida 49-23 after the tied score.

"We got off to a good start," Hill said. "We got our running game going and that feeds off defensively. And we were able to get some buckets in transition and get to the foul line."

Not only did Florida shoot poorly in the first half, (40 percent from field, 28.6 percent from 3-point range), but the Gators' defense completely fell apart.

"We didn't have a very good shooting night and a lot of that had to do with Michigan State's defense," Donovan said. "To be honest with you at halftime I was happy. It was a 10-point deficit for us, but I thought it could have been a lot more. I think Michigan State played an outstanding game on both sides of the floor and made it difficult for us."

Although center David Lee had a game-high 16 points for the Gators, the Spartans kept Florida from establishing much of an inside presence, forcing shots from outside.

They just weren't falling. Florida shot 37 percent from the field, 23 percent from 3-point range.

"It was frustrating," said senior Matt Bonner, who finished with six points and six rebounds. "We couldn't make any shots tonight; credit their defense for that."

As they defended, Michigan State shot 70 percent from the field in the first half, 66 percent from 3-point range.

"I think this is one time you have to give us more credit than them blame," Izzo said. "That's a very good ball team. For whatever reason, the shots just weren't falling for them."

Donovan wasn't discouraged by the 10-point halftime deficit, but things only got worse.

Florida scored four points in the first 11 minutes of the second half and trailed by 16 with 9:30 left.

Michigan State frustrated Florida even further by constantly grabbing rebounds, earning second and third chances and more time to run down the clock.

"There was one possession where they had two consecutive rebounds, then they hit a big shot (a Paul Davis dunk with 17:21 left for a 43-29 lead) and I think that just took the wind out of our sails," Lee said.

MSU outrebounded Florida 30-22 and scored 28 points in the paint, compared to 18 for Florida. The Spartans' bench also outscored UF's 24-7.

"I was real proud of those guys," said MSU center Aloysius Anagonye, who had 12 points and seven rebounds. "We talked about needing more from our bench. They came out and played over their heads."

A tough night for the Gators was even harder for freshman Anthony Roberson. The native of Saginaw, Mich., who was expected to sign with MSU, went scoreless for the first time in his career, going 0-for-6 from the field.

"Michigan State played 40 minutes and we didn't play the whole game," he said.

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