With snow piling up outside of Breslin Center gates and a whiteout from the fans inside, MSU turned up the heat on the Wolverines in overtime, securing a crucial 76-66 victory in the process.

In a back-and-forth contest, MSU (15-7 overall, 6-3 Big Ten) blanked U-M in overtime, outscoring them by 10 points and forcing the Wolverines to miss every single shot they took.

Junior guard Denzel Valentine was terrific in the first half, making four three-pointers en route to 14 points at the break. Head coach Tom Izzo was worried about Valentine’s recent shooting struggles carrying over to this game and said it was an important game for the junior.

He was the go-to scorer for much of the game, and after a 25-point performance, he could be back on track.

As the second half went on, the Wolverines and Spartans traded leads, and all signs pointed to some excitement down the stretch.

U-M junior guard Spike Albrecht hit his third three of the game to cut the MSU lead to two with 40.9 seconds left. Later, a tip-in from U-M senior forward Max Bielfeldt tied the game at 66. With a chance to win it, senior guard Travis Trice came up short on a three-point attempt. Although the Spartans had two timeouts left, Izzo decided not to use one on the final possession.

In overtime, Valentine started things off with a bucket in the post and free throws from junior forward Matt Costello put MSU up 70-66. On the next possession, Costello gathered the offensive rebound and finished a put-back to help his team pull away.

“We just guarded ball screens a little better,” head coach Tom Izzo said. “I thought we executed a little better. We got Trice into the paint instead of the fall away shots, BJ (Dawson) in there instead of the fall away shots. ... I thought we took better shot selection. I think our defense got a little better, we got our break going again a little bit.”

Seniors step up

Senior forward Branden Dawson’s season continued its steady uphill climb, and saw through another impressive stat line (19 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, 3 steals). Michigan had a hard time finding any answers for him. Defensively, he was all over U-M’s Zak Irvin from the tip to the final horn in overtime, holding him to 11 points on just 5-of-14 shooting.

“I never thought I’d see the day when he could play 41 minutes in a game,” Izzo said. “He ran pretty good, he got out on the break pretty good, he rebounded pretty good. ... He’s been as consistent as anybody I’ve had in the last six, seven games.”

Trice was dealing with a shoulder and rib injury, and with Valentine and Dawson taking over, his presence as a scorer wasn’t as necessary. He didn’t make his first field goal until he hit a jumper from the foul line at the 12:38 mark, before finishing with 8 points and 9 assists.

“As a point guard, when you got Denzel going like that, Bryn started going late, and (Dawson) playing the way he does, that’s when I knew I was going to have to take more of a distributing role and kind of pick and choose,” Trice said.

Costello dominates down the stretch

Toward the end of the second half, Costello began to leave his mark on the game. Sophomore forward Gavin Schilling was in foul trouble and in came Costello. His role has never been too demanding, and with an impressive performance down the stretch, he exceeded expectations.

Costello turned into a ball hawk. With around three minutes left in regulation, he had two enormous blocks over a nine-second span, the second of which led to a Dawson dunk in transition. In overtime, his intensity carried over and he swatted away a three-point attempt from U-M’s Irvin. Costello did the grind work, including diving on the floor for loose balls, and he also remained composed at the foul line, finishing 6-of-7 from the stripe.

He said the key for his breakout performance was a mental adjustment and that he had been thinking too much leading up to it. As the impact plays kept coming, he played “more free.”

Breslin Center was energetic for most of the game, but down the stretch, Costello felt like the place was about to explode.

“It was incredible,” Costello said. “Your body is tingling inside. The whole place is rocking, you know momentum (is) swinging on your side. It’s the best feeling in the world.”

Room to improve

It was an important game for the Spartans, perhaps the kind of game that could drastically change a season one way or the other. MSU locked in at the end to clinch the victory, but Izzo wasn’t all smiles for his post-game press conference.

“I wasn’t real pleased with the way we played,” Izzo said. “I was pleased that we got a win. I was pleased by the way we shot it in the second half and executed a little better. It seemed like the first half, we were turning it over — I mean we turned one over, they threw it to me. Although I think I could have made a shot or a free throw better than we did.”

Izzo was also upset with the way his team rebounded down the stretch, eventually giving up offensive rebounds and allowing Bielfeldt’s tip-in to tie the game.

He continues to be puzzled by his team’s inconsistency. Izzo thought Costello struggled early but his late-game heroics actually proved to be frustrating. According to Izzo, “we can’t get guys putting it together.”

Valentine, who finished with 25 points, noted that he sees the team’s potential, but the inconsistencies need to be addressed.

“It’s a process, but we only got nine Big Ten games left, so we gotta figure it out now,” Valentine said.