MSU called a timeout to halt whatever momentum they could. They'd struggled with fouls and turnovers all night long and the Jayhawks had built an 11-point lead off a 10-2 run midway through the second half.

But MSU has Denzel Valentine.

In the midst of already having himself a monster game — Valentine absolutely took over after the timeout, proving he very well could be one of the best players in the country.

He battled. He fought. He made all the big shots and passes down the stretch. And when it was all said and done, MSU's star senior guard finished with the best game of his college career — a triple-double with 29 points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds, all the while helping MSU to a humongous early season victory.

"The last five minutes I was ready to pass out," said Valentine, who played 38 minutes in Tuesday night's contest. "But I just credit to (assistant coach) Mike Garland, he said 'You played too well to lose the game,' so I was like 'Might as well just finish it off and get the win' and credit to my teammates, they helped me push through."

This isn't anything out of the blue for Valentine. For years, MSU head basketball coach Tom Izzo has called the Lansing native "a poor man's Magic Johnson."

And while it hasn't always been the smoothest of sailing in Valentine's journey, he showed where his coach's high praise comes from Tuesday night.

"Coach Izzo is always challenging me," Valentine said. "And I don't like it at times ... now, I want to quit at times ... 

"Me too," Izzo joked from the back of the post game press conference room, cutting Valentine off and drawing a chorus of laughs from a room full of media.

"But he keeps pushing us," Valentine continued through laughs. "He motivates us ... credit to our coaches for having a game plan and motivating us for the whole game."

Regardless, as much credit as Valentine gives to his coach, Izzo bounced just as much credit back to Valentine for how he was able to push and fight through an exhausting second half.

"He sucked it up," Izzo said. "He gives me credit. I give him credit ... There's a million things he's not good enough at, but winning is something he's good enough at, work ethic is something he's good enough at and basketball IQ is something he's good enough at. And those things just won us a big game."

Valentine's triple-double against Kansas was only the second triple-double to be put up against the Jayhawks in the history of college basketball. The first player to do it — MSU's own Earvin "Magic" Johnson in 1979.

"I've seen him play some good games," said MSU senior guard Bryn Forbes, who's a past high school teammate of Valentine's at Lansing Sexton High School. "None come to mind, though. This was impressive, to be in company with Magic, that speaks for itself."

Senior teammate and forward Matt Costello was also amazed at the type of game Valentine had and said he couldn't be happier for him.

"It's put him with some of the (MSU) greats," Costello said. "It puts him up there with Steve Smith, Mateen (Cleaves), (Draymond Green) ... I mean, he's not on Magic's level yet because Magic's the best in the world, but it starts putting his name up there. He has to leave his footprint in the sand in a couple of areas but this starts putting him in that category."

And for Valentine, the win and his performance against Kansas puts the Spartans one step closer to reaching their season goal.

"I think we made a statement that we can play with anybody in the country," Valentine said. "And Kansas played like a top five team. And we got the win. And with that being said, I think we can win a national championship this year."