Cold Start Costs #MBB in Loss at No. 5 Michigan State

Tuesday, December 17

East Lansing, Mich.

7 pm

University of North Florida

5-7

Michigan State

9-1

North Florida

Michigan State

12/17/2013 11:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Combined AP & North Florida Athletics

Final Boxscore (pdf)
Game Book

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The North Florida basketball team outscored No. 5 Michigan State in the second half, but could not overcome a sluggish first half performance in a 78-48 loss Tuesday night in the Breslin Center.

The Ospreys (5-7) finished with 29 points in the final 20 minutes while allowing the Spartans (9-1) to 28.

Jalen Nesbitt scored 11 points and hauled down seven rebounds to lead the Ospreys, while Demarcus Daniels and Devin Wilson each added seven points.

MSU's All-American candidate Adreian Payne scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half, and Branden Dawson added 12 points and Denzel Valentine scored 11 for the Spartans, who were ranked No. 1 in the country before a loss to North Carolina on Dec. 4.

The Spartans began the game on a 21-4 run and led 40-14 after a jumper by the 6-foot-10 Payne. Michigan State led the Ospreys 50-19 at halftime after shooting 71 percent and holding North Florida to 7 of 32 from the field.

The two squads traded baskets for much of the second half with MSU leading by as many as 37 before the Osprey's defense turned things up and held the Spartans to 37 percent shooting in the half. Nesbitt scored nine points in the closing period for UNF.

"Our guys again demonstrated great resiliency and competitiveness," said UNF head coach Matthew Driscolll. "I thought we had some open looks and good opportunities to score in the first half but just weren't able to convert consistently. In the second half, we got some more defensive stops and were able to get things going a little better on offense. We are not interested in moral victories, but I did feel like we did some good things we can build on moving forward. We are looking forward to returning home to play six of our next eight games."

North Florida begins a three-game home stand against in-state foe Bethune Cookman on Saturday at 7 p.m.