The No. 2 MSU men's basketball team (28-5, 13-5 Big Ten) held off the No. 18 Maryland Terrapins (25-8, 12-6) in the semifinals of the 2016 Big Ten Tournament, to come away with a 64-61 victory.
The Spartans advance to take on Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament championship game on Sunday.
MSU senior guard Denzel Valentine led the Spartans through a defensive battle in the second half to finish with 18 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists, while Maryland was led by 18 points and eight rebounds from junior forward Robert Carter Jr.
“They had a heck of a game plan,” Valentine said of the test Maryland presented to them, as for the final 10 minutes of Saturday’s contest, neither team led by more than three points. “They forced us to do some things offensively that we’re not used to doing. They kind of took us out of our game. We kind of panicked there in the second half and I think that was the biggest thing we need to do and to learn from, is if teams give us a different look on offense … we need to find a way to win. And we found a way to win. But it wasn’t pretty, and we’re going to learn from it.”
Things were heated early as MSU junior guard Eron Harris and Maryland senior forward Jake Layman were issued a double-technical after the two were tangled up on a play at the 18:31 mark of the first half.
Emotions eventually settled down and MSU steadily built a lead on Maryland. With 7:33 to go in the half, it was a 26-16 advantage for the Spartans.
Maryland fought its way back into the game and closed the MSU lead to four, 28-24, with 6:08 to go in the half, but back-to-back 3-pointers from MSU junior guard Alvin Ellis III helped the Spartans go on a run and take a 41-33 lead into the break.
The Terrapins didn't go away, though.
In a second half which would prove to be a defensive battle, the Terrapins steadily clawed their way back into the game. A 3-pointer from Maryland sophomore guard Melo Trimble tied things up at 53 with 10:26 left.
Then at the 6:53 mark, Maryland took a 57-56 lead off of a pair of free throws from Carter, the team's first lead since it was 2-0 in the first half.
A Deyonta Davis dunk on the other end put MSU back on top 58-57 with 6:36 to go. And that's how the score stayed for more than three minutes, until a couple of Matt Costello free throws gave MSU a 60-57 lead with 3:13 to go in the game.
Things stayed knotted up right until the very end, when Davis blocked Maryland’s Diamond Stone’s hook shot attempt with less than a minute to play and MSU up just one, 60-59.
“He’s done it two games in a row where he’s been a beast on defense,” MSU senior forward Costello said of Davis’ block. “And that’s why he’s a projected lottery pick. I know his situation, Diamond was backing me down. And D.D. just came over the top and saved my butt to be honest with you.”
Valentine then sunk two free throws to put MSU up 62-59. But with just 14.5 seconds to play, MSU’s lead was cut to one after Trimble hit a layup to make it 62-61.
After Valentine missed the front end of a one and one, Trimble raced up the floor and missed a layup, leading to two Valentine free throws with 0.8 seconds left as MSU went on to win the game, 64-61.
The Spartans held the Terrapins to just one field goal in the final 10 minutes of the game, and while that’s impressive, what MSU was doing on the other end of the floor wasn’t as impressive, Costello said.
“We were so sorry on offense for the last 10 minutes,” Costello said. “We can improve on that leaps and bounds. … Our defense was good but we need to clean it up on offense.”
MSU will now face Purdue on Sunday at 3 p.m. for a shot at the Big Ten Tournament championship. And while Izzo felt there were some shortcomings to MSU’s play on Saturday, it’s on to the next one, he said.
“This win will feel better when I get home,” Izzo said of defeating Maryland. “We have bigger dreams than to win a game right now.”
