The Florida Gators scored their biggest win since the 2007 NCAA Tournament Final in beating Michigan State 77-74.  The closing seconds featured multiple 3-point attempts by Michigan State to tie it up- emphasizing the way the Spartans worked us on the offensive glass all night.

But in the end, the Gators relative lack of depth and big-game experience didn't matter.  The game film will give Billy D plenty to work with, as these Gators have a long way to grow- but this sort of resume-boosting win is exactly what the program has lacked the last two years.

All I could think during the closing minutes was, &We better finish this off.  This isn't Tennessee Volunteer football- we don't claim moral victories.&

Those of you with family in Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday could enjoy the game on Sun Sports / Fox Sports Florida, but those of us out of state had to rely on cable packages including HDNet.  I have HDNet, and the cameras they used were excellent- even if parts of the broadcast showed their warts a little as not a traditional, mainstream sports network.

For those that were unable to follow the game on television, we at GatorsFirst.com were active on the twitter machine, giving you real-time score updates as well as analysis of the game.  Indeed, 3 different G1 contributors combined to bring you the updates and perspective on this game as it happened.  Here is a representative sample/&best of& of those tweets:

JB: I've got obscure nicknames for most (5) of the Gator Top 7... the new guys I don't have enough info yet.

JB: Here is last year's Florida Basketball Drinking Game. I'll be using these until new ones are up.

JB: And we actually made a free throw. 7-2 UF, 16:04 remaining

JB: Announcer just said, &Two Hall of Fame coaches&. Which ought to quiet idiot #Florida fans who think the 2 NIT trips have tarnished him.

JB: An Erik Murphy sighting! Didn't see him much (at all?) against FSU.

JB: Well, there goes the lead. 11-11 now, 13 mins left.

JB: Vernon Macklin got bailed out by a foul there. I'll be shocked if he makes 1 of these, let alone both.

JB: Wow, he made both!

JB: &1 Drink: Dan Werner ends up on the ground, for any reason.& Were the greatest words I wrote in 2009.

JB: Parsons made a 3. Announcer says he's &not known for his 3-point range&. I might have to revise some rules.

JB: 17-14 UF right now, 10:54 left in 1st.

JB: Parsons bricked a 3. All is right with the world. 

JB: Juwanna Mann takes it to the hole! AND ONE!

JB: Another made FT. What's going on tonight?

JB: Lots of substituting for both sides. MSU is like 12 deep, we're only 7 deep.

JB: I think early Kadji, Murphy sightings are attempt by Billy D to keep our top seven fresh. Izzo using his depth well.

JB: Good job by HDNet not to tell us who last Florida foul was on. TV TO, UF still up 23-18... MSU ball after commercial.

JB: Stats just confirmed what I was thinking- we're getting killed on boards.

JB: CP just got a dunk, then a layup off press. 31-24 UF. MSU hit a 3, not 31-27. 3:44 left in 1st.

JB: ERIK MURPHY AND ONE! We sat him for FSU as a secret whiteboy weapon?

JB: 33-27 left, TV timeout with apporx 3:40 left in 1st. UF's Murphy to shoot a FT when we come back.

JB: And Murphy hit the FT. Something in the water tonight.

JB: Another dunk off the press for MSU. 34-29 3:13 left. Airball for Mr. Floor Burn.

CC: James is eating ribs, I'm taking over. MSU hits a shot and 1, tied at 34-34

CC: Shipman is looking great tonight, steal then layup. 38-36

CC: Gators up at the half 38-36. Great start against a team that made the championship game last year. Payback for '00 & '03?

JB: Tom Izzo is an ass. And I still hate Mateen Cleaves.

CC: In Gainesville for the FSU game. Watching bball at gator city. Gainesville, FL >>> Paris, TX... GO GATORS!!!

CC: Macklin starts the half off right with a sweet hooker #doubleentendre

CC: Sloppy play leads to a 41-44 deficit. Gross

RC: Watching the game on a pathetic ESPN gamecast in Plattsburgh NY

CC: Tyus's receding hairline + massive corn rows score high on the unintentional comedy scale...

CC: view from gator city! http://yfrog.com/4ihzsj

RC: My friend thinks Tyus looks like the Predator with his dreds, but I still stand by the fact he looks like Method Man

RC: I can't believe Kenny Boynton is 1-8 from behind the arc...hopefully he finds the stroke soon or Billy D needs to chill him out a bit

RC: for three Erving 0-4, Boynton 1-9

...

JB: Wow, what a win! That's how you build a NCAA-resume. How will these guys handle it? The 1st half v. Rutgers and the home crowd will tell

So we've picked up a huge win for our program.  The one-day turnaround to play Rutgers on a &neutral& court in their home state of New Jersey should tell us a lot about this team's maturity.  The great thing about winning this game (other than winning it, and scoring the big upset and all that) is that the game tomorrow will now be after the football game, making tomorrow a potentially great day for Florida Gators fans.

Here are some other random tidbits that come to mind when thinking about the way this game played out:

- Kenny Boynton is the future of this team, but this game was a great way to show him that he is not yet a national star.  As a continuation of this theme, the game was a great result for our program, but even better was that our newcomers playing new roles (Boynton, Walker, Macklin, Shipman) struggled enough throughout the game that Billy D should be able to abuse them appropriately enough in the film room to get them playing better as the season wears on.

- Our team depth is, well, shallow.  We have a pretty good top 7, but that's where it ends at this point.  Foul troubles will come along and lose this team a game or two, and injuries could be disastrous.  A lot of teams don't go much more than 7 deep, so if we can keep those seven on the floor for most of the minutes, we'll be fine- but that's always a big if.

- Kenny Kadji is in danger of being another of the Billy Donovan era transfers.  He needs to grow into someone that can help us when the conference grind comes along, and if not, he won't see much of the floor.  Which means he'll go.  If this team really wants to make a run, they need that extra post presence to emerge.  As of now, if some combination of Werner/Macklin/Tyus ends up with early fouls we'll be done for.

- We are awful in the half-court offense.  Some of it could be Boynton settling for threes, when it's been evident to me through what few games we've played so far that this team's identity needs to be centered on running the floor, playing strong defense, and getting into the lane.  Michigan State is a great defensive team, and KB settled for the threes that weren't falling.

- That Erving Walker three was incredible!  He was way, way back and hadn't been shooting well.

- Nick Calathes put up gaudy numbers at Florida.  He's a great player.  I'm stoked he could be headed to the Dallas Mavericks soon.  He even created easy scoring opportunities in the half court that we are currently lacking.  But his teammates deferred to his talent, and his personality dominated this team the last two years.  The famous Bill Simmons 'Ewing Theory' seems too easily applied to college, so let's just say that in the void he left, the Boynton/Shipman/Walker guard trio can show their quickness and athleticism on BOTH ENDS of the floor, and the team can draw identity from that.  Parsons seems to be taking more of a page from Werner this year, and Dan Werner has been the guy the last several years to relentlessly throw himself around the court and after loose balls.  It seems Werner's hustle has been stronger senior leadership than Walter Hodge's passive play led the team the last two years (when he was first the only junior, then the only senior).

- Win or lose, this game would have been a great learning experience for this team.  It was great to see our squad's effort rewarded with the win- but either way, I think playing an opponent of that caliber this early in the season gets the guy's attention.  The last couple of seasons, we've cruised past vastly inferior competition in Novermber and December, only to fall apart during the tough part of our SEC schedule (invariably the last month or so).  The scheduling this season is so much tougher that at least we shouldn't get overconfident.

Tomorrow night is the &Championship& of this fake tournament, on the same channels as today's game (I'll be watching HDNet again), at 8pm ET.  Rutgers beat UMass 83-75 in the earlier game, so we get to play the hometown team in Atlantic City tomorrow.