We may have lost, but we quieted that crowd down a couple of times in the second half when we took the lead.
Oliver Barry, CRS, GRI, SFR Real Estate Broker PARKS 305 B Indian Lake Blvd Suite 220 Hendersonville TN 37075 Mobile: 615-972-4239 Office: 615-826-4040 Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: > From: Shane Ford <[email protected]> > Date: December 13, 2015 at 11:30:38 AM CST > To: GatorNews <[email protected]> > Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: Gators fall short against top-ranked Michigan > State > Reply-To: [email protected] > > > > Michigan State's Deyonta Davis (23) and Eron Harris (14) and Florida's > KeVaughn Allen (4) and Devin Robinson (3) vie for a rebound. Michigan State > topped the Gators 58-52. > > Gators fall short against top-ranked Michigan State > By Kevin Brockway > Gainesville SUN Staff writer > Sunday, December 13, 2015 12:19 AM > > EAST LANSING, Mich --- The fans at the Breslin Center were anxious. Through > 35 minutes of missed shots and with starting center John Egbunu mired in foul > trouble, somehow, someway, Florida scrapped its way to chance to upset No. 1 > Michigan State. > > But the Spartans used their experience and physicality down the stretch to > knock off the Gators 58-52 before a charged crowd of 14,797. > > “We obviously came up a little short, but we took a step in the right > direction, and played as hard as we’ve played and really competed,” Florida > coach Mike White said. > > Indeed, Florida rose to the occasion of playing the top-ranked team in the > country, diving on the floor for every loose ball and tumbling into benches > out of bounds to save possessions. But with the loss, Florida fell to 2-14 > when facing the No. 1 team in the country. > > “We had a great effort on defense,” Florida sophomore point guard Chris > Chiozza said. “That’s just how we’ve got to play every game. It doesn’t > matter who we are playing, the number one team, not ranked.” > > Yet for as much effort and athleticism as the Gators showed in making it a > close game, critical empty trips down the stretch proved costly. > > With Florida down 54-50 and 4:06 remaining, the Gators had turnovers on three > straight possessions. The first was a fast pass by Dorian Finney-Smith that > went through freshman Kevarrius Hayes’ hands. The second came when point > guard Kasey Hill was stripped going for a drive to the basket. And the third > was when Finney-Smith fumbled away a dribble on the wing. > > “They were just able to out battle us, out tough us the last five or six > minutes,” Chiozza said. > > Michigan State extended its lead to 56-50 on an offensive rebound tip in by > Marvin Clark Jr. The Gators had a chance to make it a one-possession game > with 55 seconds left when Hill made a driving layup in transition and was > fouled. But Hill, who went 3-of-8 from the free-throw line, missed a free > throw to complete the three-point play. > > Then, with Florida down 56-52, Finney-Smith missed a 3-pointer in transition > with 24 seconds left. > > “There were a couple of times there that we considered taking a time out,” > White said. “We got a few decent looks we couldn’t convert. But again, we’re > just searching on the offensive end.” > > Finney-Smith and Hill led Florida with 13 points apiece. Chiozza scored 11 > points, all in the second half, while sophomore forward Devin Robinson had 10 > points and 9 rebounds. > > It was a charged atmosphere, with Michigan State’s student section circling > the lower bowl. At halftime, Michigan State honored its 2000 national > championship basketball team that beat the Gators in the title game. Also, in > the first half, the Big Ten champion Michigan State football team addressed > the crowd before its trip to face Alabama in the College Football Playoff. > > White made a few starting lineup changes, going with Chiozza over Hill at > point guard and freshman Brandone Francis-Ramirez over KeVaughn Allen at > shooting guard. Francis-Ramirez got the nod because Allen has been dealing > with groin and knee tendinitis issues. Hill asked out of the starting lineup > for the good of the team. > > “That’s something I’ve never seen in 16 years of coaching,” White said. > > The Gators hung around, despite making just 3 of their first 17 shot attempts > and going 0-of-8 from 3-point range in the first half. The 6-foot-11 Egbunu > was whistled for two fouls within in the first two minutes of the game, > including one on a careless reach in, and sat the final 18 minutes of the > first half. > > Hill provided energy off the bench, and his speed was tough for Michigan > State’s defenders to handle. The 6-foot-1 former McDonald’s All-American > scored seven points in the first half, including a steal and breakaway layup > that cut Michigan State’s lead to 27-25 before halftime. > > “I thought it was his best game, offensively, defensively,” White said. > > Said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo: “He was running around us, then circling > back and running around us again.” > > But Florida had a lull to start the second half, allowing Michigan State to > go on a 8-2 run to extend its lead to 35-27. That’s when Chiozza heated up. > The sophomore made the first of three straight 3-pointers (Florida was 0-11 > at that point from beyond the arc) to cut Michigan State’s lead to 35-30. > > Chiozza found Devin Robinson on a pretty pass inside for a layup to cut > Michigan State’s lead to 38-35, then hit another 3-pointer to tie the score > at 38 with 14:06 left. > > “I was hoping that was going to spark us and we would build on the lead,” > Chiozza said. “We started out slow. We were already in a hole. It just got us > back even and we couldn’t keep the run going.” > > Eventually, Florida took a 45-42 lead when Finney-Smith made a 3-pointer with > 9:52 left off a scramble possession in which Hayes got a key offensive > rebound. UF’s last lead, 47-46, came on a Robinson offensive rebound and > putback with 7:16 left. > > But Michigan State tightened up down the stretch, and Egbunu never became a > factor. He fouled out with 4:24 left with 0 points, 2 rebounds and 1 blocked > shot in seven minutes. With Egbunu on the bench, the Gators were compromised > on the boards. Michigan State outrebounded Florida 45-34, with 16 offensive > rebounds. > > “We’re obviously a different team with him on the floor,” White said. “It was > disappointing.” > > Star swingman Denzel Valentine led Michigan State with 17 points, but had to > work for it, going 5 of 17 from the floor. Valentine hit his biggest shot > late in the shot clock to put the Spartans up 53-49. Florida scored 12 points > off 12 Michigan State turnovers. > > “I was impressed with Florida,” Izzo said. “They are going to win a lot of > games this year. I think if we wouldn’t have turned it over and gave up those > interceptions for touchdowns, it would have widened the gap a little bit.” > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Sent From Shane's iPhone > Go Gators! & Skål Vikes! > ALPCA #8756 > Europlate #1045 > -- > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 > National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 > National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "GatorNews" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GatorTalk" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
