Neitzel drove the lane and scored with 2.4 seconds left Thursday night to give the Spartans a 63-61 victory over No. 19 Texas in the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

Before looking ahead to the championship game with Maryland on Friday night, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo wanted to give credit to Neitzel.

"He did a heck of a job," Izzo said. "He busted right through. I think they were worried about a shot and they were pretty spread apart."

The Texas players should have expected something from the outside. There were 43 3-pointers taken, including a miss from beyond the arc by Neitzel with just over a minute to play.

Neitzel took an inbounds pass with 8.4 seconds left, dribbled behind the 3-point line, put the ball on the floor, took advantage of a defender slipping and drove right down the lane for the winning points.

"I wouldn't call it a breakdown," Texas freshman Kevin Durant said of the Longhorns' defense on the deciding play. "He made a great play, but we should have helped out and stopped him."

Texas' A.J. Abrams took a shot from a step inside halfcourt at the buzzer and it bounced off the rim.

In other games involving ranked teams on Thursday, it was: No. 1 Florida 90, Jacksonville 61; No. 11 Duke 75, UNC-Greensboro 48; No. 13 Memphis 111, Jackson State 69; and No. 23 Georgia Tech 103, Georgia State 74.

Freshman Raymar Morgan had 18 points for Michigan State (4-0), while Neitzel finished with 15 and six assists, just above the number he led the Big Ten in conference games with last season.

The 6-foot point guard will have hands full against Maryland (4-0) in the title game at Madison Square Garden. The Terrapins' pressure defense took command early against St. John's on Thursday night, building a 58-21 halftime lead on the way to a 92-60 victory.

"Maryland concerns me because they are the deepest team in the tournament by far," Izzo said. "Their press is going to wear some people down and they have great athletes, but this is a great opportunity for a young team to play for a championship."

Texas (2-1) had five freshman on the floor a few times Thursday night, and Durant finished with 21 points, one less than sophomore 3-point specialist A.J. Abrams. Durant played all but one minute of the game and had nine rebounds and four blocked shots. he was just 1-for-7 and scored five points in the second half.

"He played 39 minutes and except for the 1-for-8 on 3-pointers, it was a pretty good 39 minutes," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "We had five freshmen out there a lot and I thought overall things went pretty well."

Michigan State finished 9-for-17 from 3-point range, while Texas was 7-for-26. Abrams was 6-for-13 on 3s, well off the 11-for-17 he was in the Longhorns' first two games.

"We decently guarded Abrams on 3s, he can hit them from all over," Izzo said. "Overall, we did a decent job on him."

No. 1 Florida 90, Jacksonville 61

Al Horford and Joakim Noah combined for 34 points and 17 rebounds and the defending national champions extended their winning streak to 14 games, winning their 23rd consecutive game against a non-conference opponent.

Florida (3-0) took a 45-14 lead on Taurean Green's 3-pointer late in the first half. The Gators made 23 of their first 27 shots, and shot 59 percent for the game.

Corey Claitt led visiting Jacksonville (1-2) with 16 points.

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Michigan State recap and Top 25 Roundup. - By JIM O'CONNELL