A week after missing a shot against Illinois that could've won the game, Valentine's game-winner changes the season narrative. MSU has now added a key win to its resume, making a postseason berth a little closer to a certainty.

"Last week I had the ball and I threw up a bad shot," Valentine said. "I just kinda wanted to make up for it. So as soon as I got it I said 'this is going in, I don't want to go into another overtime.' I've had enough of overtime games. It was a great feeling, an unexplainable feeling."

In a season filled with close losses, MSU flipped the script on Saturday by playing with great urgency down the stretch. Each of MSU's veteran stalwarts had a hand in closing out the win, with senior guard Trice driving to the rim for a layup at the 1:16 mark to extend MSU's lead to three, and senior forward Branden Dawson knocking down a pair of free throws with 3:18 remaining.

"It was fun to be in a huddle with three minutes left and look at my three guys that have been struggling a little bit at times," men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo said. "When Dawson made the free throws I told him he would make them, because that's what seniors do. Trice, he got to make a play, and then we went to Valentine at the end. Your three best players come through. and that's what I said that Mark Dantonio has said. Your seniors, your upperclassmen gotta play well to have a great season, and at the right time they did."

The victory pushes MSU into a tie for second place in Big Ten standings. Valentine finished with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from deep, and senior forward Branden Dawson 15 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks.

Ohio State standout freshman guard D'Angelo Russell was held to 10 points and six assists on 4-of-13 shooting. Senior guard Shannon Scott had 15 points, five rebounds and five assists.

For the second consecutive game, freshman guard Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn got the starting nod over Trice. His play was key in the win, as the 5-foot-10 guard made several plays down the stretch to keep MSU competitive. He finished with seven points, five rebounds and four assists.

After a strong start to the first half, MSU's offense began to chug. A bailout 3-pointer by Nairn, his first 3-pointer of the season, cut Ohio State's lead to two, 18-16.

"The 3-pointer was diagrammed, let me put that in, last night," Izzo joked about Nairn's surprise triple. "Call it 'sneak attack.' When he shot it, it was one of the proverbial 'oh shhhh, nice shot.'"

The Spartans closed the first half on a 15-2 run, sparked by the play of Nairn and Valentine, to take a 33-24 lead into halftime.

The Buckeyes came out strong in the second half, cutting MSU's lead to 40-37 at the 11:41 mark.

Ohio State finally took the lead at the 5:22 mark, 49-47, after Russell grabbed an offensive rebound to feed Scott for a midrange jumper.

Russell made Valentine stumble with a crossover and jumper, but Valentine responded with a 3-pointer on the other end to give the Spartans the lead four minutes left. MSU would hold on to win.

"Key guys played well and we just made plays," Trice said. "Guys didn't make plays at the end of last game."

Several former Spartans were in attendance, including Adreian Payne, Derrick Nix, Draymond "Day Day" Green and Gary Harris. Valentine said having a number of former MSU basketball players in the audience was a huge lift.

"It's a huge win, but like Day Day said we expect to win at home against a home crowd," Valentine said. "It just happened against a top-25 team we haven't beat all season, so it's a huge win for us and I hope it's going to take that next step for us."