Gators Roll Over Arizona State 70-57; To Play UMass In NIT Semifinals

Tempe, AZ (AHN) -- The two-time NCAA defending champion Florida Gators advanced to the NIT semifinals on Tuesday with a 70-57 win over Arizona State.

Walter Hodge led the way for the Gators (24-11) with 18 points, followed by Chandler Parsons with 15 and Nick Calathes with 11 points and nine assists.

The Gators will play Massachusetts in the semifinals in New York's Madison Square Garden on April 1.

James Harden led Arizona State (21-13) with 18 points.

The Gators shot 60.5 percent from the field in racing out to a 17-3 lead.

Florida led 35-29 at the half before ASU briefly took the lead with 13:30 to go, but the Gators answered with a 15-6 run to put the game away.

The game matched longtime friends on the rival benches as Gator coach Billy Donovan played at Providence when ASU coach Herb Sendek was an assistant under Rick Pitino on the Providence staff and both Donovan and Sendek were assistants on Pitino's staff at Kentucky.