Michigan State University Athletics
Grinz On Green: Seniors Provide Much-Needed Victory
1/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
As former Michigan State basketball coach Jud Heathcote might say, the Spartans are back in the human race.
There were some doubts about membership after three straight losses, and Coach Tom Izzo still wasn't entirely sold, but Saturday's day-glo-ing 74-65 victory over No. 5-ranked and preseason Big Ten favorite Maryland even has MSU back in conversation for rejoining the Big Ten race with 10 conference games to play.
No. 11 Michigan State's first win in 13 days provided such a release, 6-foot-9, 245-pound senior forward Matt Costello celebrated by bear-hugging the 5-9 Izzo right off his feet after checking out for the last time with four seconds remaining.
"It was just a lot of emotion coming out," said Costello. "Looking back, it might be a little awkward."
Izzo, whose 17-4 Spartans (4-4 Big Ten) avoided their first four-game league losing streak since 2006-07, was no worse for wear after his unscheduled flight.
"I could use a ride once in a while," Izzo said. "It's not all bad."
Izzo questioned whether Costello would be able to play against the Terrapins, let alone do any heavy lifting, three days after severely spraining his ankle in the 72-71 loss to Nebraska. He hadn't practiced at all on Thursday or Friday and barely participated in pregame shootaround. He went from thinking he wouldn't be able to perform at all, to hoping he'd be able to last "10-15 minutes."
But as he worked out the kinks and realized he could contribute in a meaningful way, he became part of a senior-led resurgence that picked up the entire team and twirled it back into the win column. The Spartans overcame a four-point deficit Maryland created for them with 12-2 run early in the second half, and went ahead for good with 9:42 remaining.
Costello actually tied his career-high for minutes, with 32. He finished with 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the eighth double-double of his career. Even more important were his energetic final 24 seconds when he gathered two rebounds, blocked a shot and made two foul shots for a victory-sealing seven-point advantage with 10 seconds showing.
"Costello was just off the charts," said Izzo, who with his 512th win pulled even with former Purdue coach Gene Keady for the second-most victories at a Big Ten school.
Meantime, classmate Bryn Forbes broke out of his three-game, 5-for-22 shooting slump to torch the Terps for 25 points on 8-for-15 accuracy (4-for-8 from 3-point range).
And senior guard Denzel Valentine was back to running the show â€" made all the more showy by the bright lime-green Nike uniforms and matching shoes they wore for the first time â€" the way he did before undergoing minor, precautionary, arthroscopic knee surgery on Dec. 21. Valentine scored 19 points, pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds and with eight of MSU's 17 assists, on 22 field goals, just missed his third triple-double of the season and his career.
Moreover, the Spartans figured out how to compensate for the absence of sophomore point guard and emotional leader Tum Tum Nairn, who sat out his third game with a painful foot ailment (plantar fasciitis).
"I thought that was the hardest we played in years, and I don't mean that in not complimenting our other teams, but we needed that type of effort," Izzo said. "It was a big win for us, but it doesn't put us back in the human race, yet. We have a long way to go, but I'm really proud of this team.
"I am proud of this effort. I'm proud of my assistant coaches. We had to weather some storms this past week. They competed â€" they just played four games in 10 days â€" and I thought we had incredible effort. I like I like the way the guys responded."
The Spartans' dysfunctional stretch started with a second-straight loss to Iowa that out-hustled and out-muscled them, continued with a foul-plagued performance in a game Wisconsin won on the strength of 29 makes from the free-throw line and culminated with a defensive meltdown that allowed the Cornhuskers to hit 50.0 percent from the field.
"I don't know if it was senior day, but we needed our seniors to lead us today," Costello said. "We've been struggling and we needed our veterans to step up â€" we needed everybody to step up â€" because we were on a losing streak."
Izzo's game plan was designed to get Forbes going early. Although he missed his first shot, from behind the arc three-and-a-half minutes into the game, he made his next two on a pull-up jumper from the right wing and his first of four 3-pointers for an 11-7 lead. Forbes had 13 points by halftime and felt the weight being lifted from his shoulders.
"I just got some great passes and great screens that got me open, and that made the game a little easier," Forbes said. "Man, we were really going at it this week in practice, better than usual, and I'm happy that it carried over because we needed that.
"This win was huge because we didn't want to make it four (losses in a row). That's the last thing we wanted and we weren't going to let it happen. Losing streaks are tough and it's not fun. But Coach still had his energy and was still himself and no one was down. We just came out ready to play and got the win."
Costello's willingness to go all out on a bad wheel, come what may, proved to be an inspiration.
"I love watching him work," Forbes said. "He was making all the big rebounds, blocks, diving on the floor, doing everything â€" you're happy he's on your team. I think that's who we are, and we just had to get back to that. Instead of doing the things it took to lose, we were doing the things it took to win again.
"We played so much smarter, played better defense and helped more."
Michigan State got away with season-low 36.1-percent shooting because it held Maryland to 38.6 percent while getting 15 second-chance points off 17 offensive rebounds, Izzo said. The Spartans also won the overall rebounding battle, 46-36, despite the Terrapins' size advantage.
"We just went back to our roots," Valentine said while looking back to MSU's 13-0 start. "That's what we were winning with at first. Playing tough, running in transition, wearing the other team down, being smart, making big-time plays at the end.
"It was a must-win and we refused to lose that game. They went on that run at the start of the second half, but we responded every time they went on a run. That was a huge emotional win for us, and I think we're back."
Valentine, the only player in Big Ten history to record 1,300 points, 700 rebounds and 500 assists, even liked the highlighter look.
"Those jerseys were sweet," he said.
