9Florida State 65 - 51 6Florida
Final
  for this game

Rich leads Florida State to easy win over rival Florida

Nov 24, 2007 - 7:07 AM GAINESVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- Jason Rich and Florida State easily handled their inexperienced archrival.

Rich scored 12 of his 20 points in the second half and Isaiah Swann added 11 as the Seminoles posted a 65-51 victory over 24th-ranked Florida on Friday.

Florida State (5-2), which returned four starters from last season's NIT team that knocked off two-time defending NCAA champion Florida in Tallahassee last season, snapped a six-game skid here.

Junior guard Walter Hodge scored 11 for the Gators (5-1), who lost five of their top seven scorers from last season's national championship team.

Florida took its only lead at 7-6 on a jumper by Hodge, but the Seminoles responded with a 23-3 run over the next 9 1/2 minutes to take a 29-10 lead.

The Seminoles led, 34-21, and opened the lead to 17 points early in the second half before Florida pulled within 47-36 with 9:53 to play.

The Gators got no closer as Rich scored nine points in a 14-6 surge to hike the margin to 61-42 with 4:09 remaining.

Rich shot 7-of-12 from the floor and scored 12 of the final 18 points of the game for Florida State, which led by as many as 19 in the second half.

Rich also grabbed nine rebounds for the Seminoles, who shot 48 percent from the floor (25-of-52) and outrebounded Florida, 33-22.

Florida State opened the game on a 21-9 run and led, 34-21, at the break.






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