Dec 8, 2018; Gainesville, FL, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Joshua Langford (1) shoots over Florida Gators guard Andrew Nembhard (2) during the second half at Exactech Arena. Photo Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Gators withstood the continuous pounding of the Michigan State (8-2) half-court offense and the clutch play of guard Josh Langford, but couldn’t maintain the rush of guard Kyle Ahrens in Saturday’s 63-59 loss to the Spartans.
The 6-6 junior found himself alone on the weak side of the floor twice and made Florida (5-4) pay both times. He hit a three off the right side after the Gators’ Kevaughn Allen three cut the Michigan State lead to 56-53 with 3:24 remaining.
On the next possession, Ahrens set up on the left baseline and Michigan State took the same approach in initiating its offense. Langford found Ahrens open, hit him with the pass and he drove the ball for a reverse layup and a 61-55 Spartans lead with 2:26 to play.
“Kyle’s plays down the stretch were unbelievable,” said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. “I think he scored seven points to end the game. Two on that dunk and two of those at the (shot-clock) buzzer. He has waited a long time for a day like this and seems like it has been forever.”
Florida didn’t go quietly as Keith Stone scored off the left box and then point guard Andrew Nembhard made a layup with 1:12 to go to cut Michigan State’s lead to 61-59.
Ahrens then provided an exclamation point as he collected the ball after a scrum under the basket and slammed the game winner with 9.4 second remaining.
Michigan State gained the upper hand in the first half with its size as Izzo used the physicality of Kenny Goins, Xavier Tillman and Nick Ward to dominate the inside offensively. They were able to seal the Gators at angles and use their wide bodies inside to finish with 36 points in the paint.
The Spartans initiated out of a high-low set with two of their three bigs on the floor most all afternoon. Their passing and then the ball movement to the inside hurt Florida consistently.
“I thought he (Ward) did a lot of good things early and he struggled a little bit defensively and that his defense wasn’t as good, so that’s why we had him in and out of there,” explained Izzo. “Xavier came in and played well defensively and I thought he was pretty good offensively.”
Izzo went with Goins and Tillman more in the second half as Ward struggled defensively and he needed more from them on the boards.
Tillman led four Spartans in double figures with 14 points as Michigan State shot 51 percent from the field and he led in rebounds with nine.
Florida struggled offensively after Kevaughn Allen spurred a quick 5-0 start before the Spartans pulled into a 20-10 lead with 8:40 remaining in the first half. Michigan State’s defense had stonewalled Florida at that point as the Gators were 1-of-15 from the floor over the next 10:30.
Florida finished 23-of-63 from the field and made only six three-pointers. The Gators’ defense gave them a chance to win, forcing turnovers as they cut the Spartans’ lead to two twice late in the game.
“Offensively, we have revamped what we are trying to do four or five times already, maybe we stay the course or we revamp again,” said Florida’s Mike White. “Maybe we revamp lineups and minutes. I am open to anything.”
Florida freshman Andrew Nembhard is turning the corner as a leader as he took the game over and orchestrated the Gators’ offense in the clutch while scoring seven of this 13 points late in the game.
“He is playing a lot of minutes and I am putting him in a lot of ball screens and he exerts himself a lot,” said White. “I don’t know that we can ride him that much for 40 minutes every game. We have a lot of good offensive pieces. We just have to get to where they are playing consistently enough that we can ride them as well.”
