The Michigan State Spartans are set to host the Florida Gators on Saturday in a matchup of two great college basketball programs. Michigan State comes in as the number one team in the nation at 10-0 while Florida comes in at 6-2 and unranked.
Michigan State has likely been the most impressive team in the nation so far this season as they have impressive wins over Kansas, Providence and Louisville without having suffered a loss just yet. Florida will present a tough test but the Spartans are at home and should have the advantage in this one.
Michigan State is led by one of the early frontrunners for player of the year in Denzel Valentine as he leads the team in scoring (18.8 points per game) rebounding (8.9 rebounds per game) and assists (7.7 assists per game.) Valentine is coming off one of his worst games of the season, a blowout win over Maryland East Shore, but they didn't need him in that game and he will look to bounce back.
Another player to watch for the Spartans is Bryn Forbes as he is second on the team with 12.8 points per game and he is shooting a crazy 49 percent from three point range so far. Forbes has come on particularly strong of late as he has scored at least 14 points in each of his last four games including a huge 20 point performance against Louisville.
Florida is a team that can certainly use this win as it would be the best win any team has had this season and the Gators need something to get their resume jumpstarted for postseason time. Florida doesn't have any bad losses this season as their two losses were to a ranked Purdue team and a ranked Miami team but they also don't have any good wins either.
Florida is led by senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith who has also been doing a little bit of everything for his team. Finney-Smith leads the Gators with 14.0 points and 8.6 rebounds per game and is a close second in assists at 3.0 per game. Finney-Smith has had back-to-back down performance in Florida's last two games but they will need a big time game from him if they are going to pull of this upset.
Another player to watch for the Gators is junior point guard Kasey Hill. Hill was heavily recruited out of high school and was a top ten recruit in the 2013 class but has yet to even come close to living up to expectations. Hill is leading the team with 3.1 assists per game but he is shooting just 35 percent from the field and has struggled even more lately as he is just 5 for his last 24 from the field. Hill and Finney-Smith have to have big games on Saturday if Florida has any chance of winning this one on the road.
This the first part of a home and home series between the two schools as Michigan State will play in Gainesville in the 2017-18 season. The last time these two schools met was in 2009 but the most memorable meeting was the 2000 national championship game where the Spartans won by 13. Overall the two teams are tied at three a piece in their six meetings with each other all-time.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 6 P.M. Eastern time and to watch the live broadcast go here. For the Michigan State radio broadcast go here and for the Florida radio broadcast go here.
