Florida Finally Gets Revenge

Most players from the Final Four teams of the recent past have left Michigan State. That didn’t keep Florida from savoring its breakthrough against the Spartans.

Behind a career-high 23 points from Matt Bonner and a smothering full-court press, No. 6 Florida defeated No. 24 Michigan State, 74-70, on Wednesday night at Gainesville, Fla.

Brett Nelson scored 15 points for the Gators (5-1), who won in this, the second game against the Spartans (4-3) since the teams played in the national championship game in 2000.

“When we’re playing Michigan State, I know people are talking about how it’s a big rivalry,” Florida Coach Billy Donovan said. “But it’s hard to be a rivalry when you don’t win.”

The Spartans chipped a 19-point deficit to four with 18 seconds left by making four quick three-point baskets.

After Chris Hill made the last three-pointer, the Spartans stole the inbounds pass, but missed two three-point shots as time expired, and Florida finally had its win in this series.

“Let’s not be fooled by the last four minutes,” Spartan Coach Tom Izzo said. “They handed it to us.

“This is a potential Final Four team. What I love about them so much is they remind me of our team the last three years.”

Michigan State defeated Florida, 89-76, in the NCAA championship game in 2000, then won the rematch last season.

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No. 1 Duke 82, Temple 57--This Hall of Fame matchup between Mike Krzyzewski and John Chaney was one-sided.

The top-ranked Blue Devils (7-0) got 26 points from Jason Williams and 24 from Mike Dunleavy as they rolled over the Owls (3-3) at Durham, N.C.

Temple’s Lynn Greer, coming off a 47-point game against Wisconsin, was hawked all game by Chris Duhon or Dahntay Jones and finished with 22 points on eight-for-23 shooting.

The game featured recent Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Krzyzewski and Chaney--two coaches who have combined for 1,272 wins and 12 conference championships.

No. 11 Kentucky 99, Virginia Military Institute 57--Tayshaun Prince scored 21 points and Keith Bogans had 16 at Lexington, Ky., to lead the Wildcats to their fourth consecutive victory.

The two combined to shoot 13 for 26 from the field, including five of 11 from three-point range, and grabbed 15 rebounds for Kentucky (4-1), which shot 50% on three-pointers and 56% overall.

Jason Conley had 24 points and seven rebounds for VMI (1-3), which lost its third consecutive.

No. 17 Marquette 73, Dayton 51--Dwyane Wade scored 17 points and Cordell Henry added 14 at Milwaukee as the Golden Eagles pulled away in the second half and remained undefeated.

Marquette (8-0) is off to its best start since the 1997-98 season when it won its first 10 games. The Golden Eagles’ ranking is their highest since Feb. 9, 1993, when they were No. 15.

Ramod Marshall and David Morris each had 10 points for the Flyers (3-3), who are unbeaten at home and winless on the road this season.

No. 25 Western Kentucky 78, Akron 68--Filip Videnof and Todor Pandov each scored 13 points at Akron, Ohio, as the Hilltoppers played their second game without injured center Chris Marcus.

The 7-foot-1, 285-pound Marcus will be sidelined four to six weeks with a stress fracture in his left ankle. Without him, Western Kentucky (5-2) turned to its outside game to end a two-game losing streak, going 25 of 47 from the field, including nine of 23 on three-pointers.

David Falknor led the Zips (2-5) with 19 points.