Luckily for MSU, the Byrd took the slew of role players on his wings down the stretch. Burying a 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring late in overtime, redshirt junior guard Russell Byrd had the shot that saved the night for the Spartans.

It just had to happen that way, because “Tuesday night’s win”: http://statenews.com/article/2014/01/spartans-defeat-hawkeyes-in-thrilling-overtime-play was all about the unexpected from players who don’t shine with Dawson and Payne in the mix.

But it wasn’t just Byrd’s jaw-dropping, jumping-on-your-couch shot that snapped Iowa’s 20-game home winning streak.

It was Travis Trice’s 3-pointer that brought the game to a 47-46 deficit with 10:15 left. And then another long ball to take a one-point lead with 8:38 remaining in the back-and-forth game.

It also was Matt Costello’s double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds the Spartans needed in his 28 minutes of work against Iowa’s Aaron White. Not bad for a kid who only averaged 16.9 minutes per game before heading to Iowa City.

Denzel Valentine might have took the biggest step into the spotlight, who snagged a rebound when Costello missed his free throw in the final two minutes of overtime. He dished it off to Keith Appling, who missed the floater, but it was Costello’s heroics that came through again in the form of a tip-in to put the Spartans up by three with 1:14 left in OT.

Is it a shocker to see Trice, Costello and Valentine do well on the court? Absolutely not, but tonight was a perfect example how MSU can’t rely on only Appling and Gary Harris to run the show.

Appling, with his wrist that’s one hard fall away from falling off his forearm, missed two free throws in overtime that would have sealed the game. Harris missed a free throw with one minute left in regulation and later committed a foul in overtime that kept Iowa in shooting distance.

The duo had a solid game with a combined 27 points and nine rebounds, but it goes to show other people have to step in and make the big play.

And here we are back at Byrd – a player who has seen more criticism than anyone I can remember donning a green and white jersey. A player who has been through so many foot injuries, he almost would have been better off with a wooden peg-leg.

But more importantly on Tuesday, Byrd was a player who stepped up, silenced the Iowa crowd and ran back on defense happier than a kid who just found his lost puppy. Or in this case, his lost jump shot that came home to show it isn’t just the big names that will be pulling MSU through adversity.

Matt Sheehan is a State News basketball reporter. Reach him at msheehan@statenews.com.