Michigan State exploited holes in Florida's vaunted press, overcame an ankle injury to the tournament's most outstanding player and matched the Gators' previously dominating bench to claim its second Division I men's basketball championship, 89-76, April 3 in Indianapolis.

The Spartans, whose first championship came in 1979 under the guidance of point guard Magic Johnson, were led by another vintage performance from the same position. Mateen Cleaves, named the most outstanding player, sprinted through Florida's pressure time after time for lay-ups for himself or a teammate.

"We had to gamble," said Florida coach Billy Donovan. "We watched a lot of tape and I did not see one team press them all year long, obviously for good reason. Once we figured out what they were doing, we just had a very, very difficult time taking those things away. I think that's a tribute to Charlie Bell, Cleaves and Morris Peterson."

Cleaves finished with 18 points and four assists despite being limited to 31 minutes of play by an ankle injury sustained in a tangle-up with Florida's Teddy Dupay with 16:18 left in the game.

"This is what I came back for," said Cleaves, who reportedly never seriously considered leaving school for the pros last year after a semifinal loss to Duke.

"This guy's got the heart of a lion, and he's worked for this for four years," said Spartans coach Tom Izzo. "He's what a program hopefully embodies."

Big Ten co-player of the year Peterson, who joined Cleaves on the all-tournament team, finished with 21 points. Fellow all-tournament team member and senior A.J. Granger had 19 points and a team-high nine rebounds. The Spartans' 89 points were the most surrendered by Florida all season.

"We didn't want to sit around and hold the ball and get trapped," said Bell, who also made the all-tournament team.

Bell, a starting off-guard, had nine points, eight rebounds and five assists, as well as ably moving to point guard while Cleaves was being treated in the locker room. Mike Chappell, a transfer from Duke, came off the bench for Cleaves and promptly canned a three-pointer to increase the lead to 53-44. He followed with a steal and lay-up.

"I knew we had the momentum at that point in the game, and I wanted to make sure I did everything in my power with the minutes I had out there to make sure we kept that momentum," Chappell said.

Cleaves returned four-and-a-half minutes after the injury.

Chappell was just one example of Michigan State's strong bench play, which was lost in the pregame publicity given to Florida's depth.

The Florida reserves outscored the Spartans' 26-16, but that advantage was well below that of earlier tournament games and was more than offset by a Michigan State defense that shut out the Gators starting guards.

"I think our bench took (the pregame publicity) as a challenge," Chappell said. "That was their strength. That was how they were going to beat us and wear us down. Give them credit; they have a talented team. I think guys took heart and answered the bell, and everyone contributed while they were on the court."

Udonis Haslem, who finished with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field, was the only Gator on the all-tournament team. Brent Wright had 13 points, and Mike Miller finished with 10 points.

Michigan State finished with a 32-7 record, the most losses for a championship team since Duke's 1991 team, which posted an identical record. Florida finished at 29-8.

CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY

Regionals: West region -- Wisconsin 61, LSU 48; Purdue 75, Gonzaga 66; Wisconsin 64, Purdue 60.

Midwest region -- Michigan St. 75, Syracuse 58; Iowa St. 80, UCLA 56; Michigan St. 75, Iowa St. 64.

East region -- Florida 87, Duke 78; Oklahoma St. 68, Seton Hall 66; Florida 77, Oklahoma St. 65.

South region -- North Carolina 74, Tennessee 69; Tulsa 80, Miami (Fla.) 71; North Carolina 59, Tulsa 55.

SEMIFINALS

Florida 71, North Carolina 59

North Carolina: Kris Lang 2-4, 0-0, 4, 4; Jason Capel 4-13, 0-0, 10, 9; Brendan Haywood 6-7, 8-14, 12, 20; Joseph Forte 5-16, 2-4, 5, 15; Ed Cota 2-8, 4-4, 8, 9; Julius Peppers 1-3, 0-1, 2, 2; Max Owens 0-3, 0-0, 0, 0; Terrence Newby 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Michael Brooker 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Orlando Melendez 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Jonathan Holmes 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0; Will Johnson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 20-57, 14-23, 41, 59.

Florida: Brent Wright 1-3, 2-4, 7, 5; Mike Miller 3-13, 4-6, 7, 10; Udonis Haslem 5-7, 0-0, 5, 10; Justin Hamilton 2-5, 0-0, 3, 5; Teddy Dupay 1-8, 2-2, 2, 4; Donnell Harvey 2-7, 4-5, 7, 8; Matt Bonner 2-3, 0-0, 2, 4; Brett Nelson 5-10, 1-2, 6, 13; Major Parker 2-3, 0-0, 3, 6. TOTALS: 25-64, 14-23, 43, 71.

Half time: Florida 37, North Carolina 34. Three-point field goals: North Carolina 5-22 (Capel 1-4, Forte 3-10, Cota 1-5, Owens 0-1, Brooker 0-1, Holmes 0-1); Florida 7-28 (Wright 1-1, Miller 0-6, Hamilton 1-2, Dupay 0-6, Nelson 2-6, Weaks 1-4, Parker 2-3). Disqualifications: Capel, Forte. Officials: Jody Silvester, Donnie Gray, John Cahill. Attendance: 43,116.

Michigan St. 53, Wisconsin 41

Wisconsin: Andy Kowske 1-2, 0-2, 0, 2; Mike Kelley 1-2, 0-0, 7, 2; Mark Vershaw 2-11, 1-1, 2, 5; Jon Bryant 1-5, 0-0, 1, 2; Roy Boone 6-9, 5-6, 3, 18; Charlie Wills 1-4, 0-0, 1, 2; Duany Duany 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0; Maurice Linton 0-4, 0-0, 1, 0; Travon Davis 1-1, 1-2, 2, 4; Kirk Penney 2-3, 0-0, 2, 6; Erik Faust 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Robert Smith 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Julian Swartz 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 15-43, 7-11, 20, 41.

Michigan St.: Andre Hutson 3-7, 4-5, 10, 10; Morris Peterson 7-15, 4-4, 7, 20; A.J. Granger 0-3, 1-2, 7, 1; Mateen Cleaves 1-7, 9-11, 4, 11; Charlie Bell 2-9, 0-0, 8, 4; Jason Richardson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Aloysius Anagonye 1-1, 0-0, 2, 2; Mike Chappell 2-4, 1-1, 0, 5; Adam Ballinger 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; David Thomas 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 16-46, 19-23, 42, 53.

Half time: Michigan St. 19, Wisconsin 17. Three-point field goals: Wisconsin 4-13 (Penney 2-3, Boone 1-1, Davis 1-1, Kelley 0-1, Vershaw 0-1, Wills 0-1, Duany 0-1, Linton 0-1, Bryant 0-1); Michigan St. 2-14 (Peterson 2-8, Granger 0-1, Chappell 0-2, Bell 0-3). Disqualifications: Boone. Officials: John Clougherty, Andre Patillo, Tim Higgins. Attendance: 43,116.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Michigan St. 89, Florida 76

Michigan St.: Andre Hutson 2-4, 2-2, 1, 6; Morris Peterson 7-14, 4-6, 2, 21; A.J. Granger 7-11, 2-2, 9, 19; Mateen Cleaves 7-11, 1-1, 2, 18; Charlie Bell 3-6, 2-3, 8, 9; Jason Richardson 4-7, 1-2, 2, 9; Aloysius Anagonye 0-0, 0-0, 3, 0; Mike Chappell 2-4, 0-0, 1, 5; Adam Ballinger 1-1, 0-0, 0, 2; David Thomas 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Brandon Smith 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Steve Cherry 0-0, 0

-0, 0, 0; Mat Ishbia 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 33-59, 12-16, 29, 89.

Florida: Brent Wright 5-8, 3-5, 10, 13; Mike Miller 2-5, 5-6, 3, 10; Udonis Haslem 10-12, 7-7, 2, 27; Teddy Dupay 0-4, 0-0, 0, 0; Justin Hamilton 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Donnell Harvey 3-11, 3-4, 6, 9; Matt Bonner 0-3, 0-0, 3, 0; Brett Nelson 4-10, 0-0, 4, 11; Kenyan Weaks 1-3, 0-0, 1, 3; Major Parker 1-3, 0-0, 0, 3. TOTALS: 26-60; 18-22; 29, 76.

Half time: Michigan St. 43, Florida 32. Three-point field goals: Michigan St. 11-22 (Cleaves 3-4, Granger 3-5, Peterson 3-8, Bell 1-2, Chappell 1-3); Florida 6-18 (Nelson 3-6, Weaks 1-1, Parker 1-3, Miller 1-2, Wright 0-1, Dupay 0-2, Bonner 0-2). Disqualifications: None. Officials: Jim Burr, Gerald Boudreaux, David Hall. Attendance: 43,116.