The No. 11 MSU men's basketball team (17-4, 4-4 Big Ten) defeated the No. 7 Maryland Terrapins (17-3, 6-2) Saturday night at Breslin Center, 74-65.
MSU senior guard Denzel Valentine had a monster game with 19 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, while fellow senior guard Bryn Forbes bounced back from a couple rough shooting nights to finish with 25 points. Senior Matt Costello added 15 points and 12 rebounds. Costello's energy led the way for the Spartans all night and was crucial in the later phases of the game.
"I thought that was the hardest we played in years," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "And I don't mean that in not complimenting the earlier teams but we needed that kind of effort."
Maryland's sophomore guard Melo Trimble led the Terrapins with 24 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Coming off of three consecutive losses, the Spartans came out with more energy than they have in perhaps a month.
Spurred on by possibly the most energetic Breslin Center crowd all season, MSU was able to jump out to an early 14-10 lead at the 9:56 mark of the first half.
After Maryland was able to come back and tie the game back at 14 a piece, the Spartans then went on an 11-3 run to build an eight-point lead, 25-17, with 4:56 left in the half.
Things were played evenly from there on out to the half as the Spartans took a 35-29 lead to the break.
MSU shot just 35.3 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of action while Maryland stood at just 36.7 percent.
Maryland stormed out of the gates in the second half and jumped out to a 46-42 lead with 15:43 to go in the game.
The Spartans were eventually able to stymie the Terrapin's run with an 8-0 run of their own to go back on top, 50-46.
From there, MSU steadily built upon its lead. With 6:30 to go in the game, it was a 62-53 Spartan advantage.
It wasn't enough to completely put the Terrapins away, though. With less than a minute to go in the game, MSU held just a three-point advantage.
However, some huge defensive plays by Costello -- who didn't practice the last three days due to an ankle injury -- made several key plays down the stretch, sealing the deal for MSU.
"He didn't do nothing (in practice)," said Izzo, who was picked up and twirled around by Costello in the waning seconds of MSU's victory. "The guy just sucked it up and played."
Next up for the MSU basketball team, they take on the Northwestern Wildcats (15-6) on the road Thursday at 9 p.m.
