Senior guard Denzel Valentine cheers for his teammates on Nov. 9, 2015 during the first half of the game against Ferris State at Breslin Center. The Spartans defeated the Bulldogs, 93-57.
A night after notching his second triple-double of the season in a victory against Boston College, MSU senior guard Denzel Valentine had another big game, finishing with 32 points, nine rebounds and six assists to help the Spartans to a 77-67 victory over the Boise State Broncos.
Sophomore point guard Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn added nine points and seven assists for the Spartans while freshman forward Deyonta Davis finished with 12 points.
The Broncos were led by junior forward Nick Duncan, who finished with 19 points and five rebounds while senior guard Mikey Thompson chipped in with 17 points and eight assists.
The victory pushes MSU to 6-0 on the season and advances them to Sunday’s championship game of the Wooden Legacy tournament.
MSU struggled in the early going of Friday’s contest, at one point falling behind the Broncos, 21-14, after Boise State used a 9-0 run to build the lead with 6:30 to go in the first half.
However, from there the Spartans closed the half on a 19-7 run to take a 33-28 lead into the break.
Valentine led the way for the Spartans in the first half with 10 points, four assists and three rebounds while Duncan led the Broncos with eight points in the first 20 minutes of action.
In the second half, MSU jumped out to an 11-point lead early, using a quick 7-1 run to go on top, 40-29 with 17:40 left in the game.
However, Boise State came storming back, using an 13-3 run to close the MSU lead to one, 43-42 with 14:16 to go in the game. Duncan scored eight during the stretch.
But much like they have all year, the Spartans turned to Valentine. The senior guard hit four consecutive 3-pointers in less than two minutes to put MSU back up by a score of 55-44 with 11:45 to play.
At one point during the second half, Valentine scored 18 consecutive points for the Spartans.
The run wouldn’t be enough to completely put the Broncos away, though. With as little as five minutes to go in the game, the Spartans held just a 6-point advantage, 65-59.
Nevertheless, it would be as close as Boise State would get for the rest of the night, as MSU would go on to win, 77-67.
The Spartans will face the winner of Friday night’s Providence vs. Arizona match up in the Wooden Legacy championship game Sunday night at 10 p.m.
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