AM850.com

The Florida men's basketball team raced out to a 17-3 lead, saw Arizona State take the lead in the second half, and then pulled itself together to get a 70-57 win over the Sun Devils that moves them to the NIT semi-finals in New York next week.

Florida will play the University of Massachusetts, an upset winner over Syracuse on Tuesday night. The other semi-final NIT matchup will be determined tonight when Ole Miss plays at Virginia Tech and Dayton visits Ohio State.

For Florida on Tuesday night in Tempe, it was all about holding its composure after blowing that early 17-3 lead. ASU took the lead with about 14 minutes left in the game but the Gators responded and ended the game on a 20-7 run to seal the win.

Once again Florida's maligned defense held an opponent to less than 60 points, the third straight time that has happened. Offensively, junior guard Walter Hodge led a balanced attack with 18 points while center Marreese Speights scored 14. Three other Gators also scored in double figures.

Florida also shot the basketball very well, hitting 60 percent of its shots and also hitting 12 of 25 three point shots. The Gators also outrebounded ASU by a 29-18 margin.

Florida is now 24-11 on the year and will play for an NIT title starting next week.