Valentine has averaged 7.3 assists per game this season, and MSU as a team has assisted on 72 percent of its field goals, averaging 20.7 assists per game. Those numbers are good for not only first in the Big Ten, but first nationally, and it's really not close. 

MSU head coach Tom Izzo said he thinks the assist numbers and the ability of this team to share the ball is a testament to how talented and good of a leader Valentine is.

"They've almost averaged more assists in each game than any other team I have ever had -and that is incredible," Izzo said. "That speaks volumes of Denzel, because he leads the way with his unselfish, but I'm just mad at him because I think he got a little tired and could have had more rebounds. But the unselfishness goes second to none." 

Valentine now has 555 assists in his career, which ties him for seventh all-time at MSU with former point guard Travis Walton and just seven assists away from moving him into fifth all-time at MSU for assists. 

Valentine said this team is special because the assists aren't forced. Valentine said the team isn't worried about stats or leading the country in assists - rather, Valentine said the selflessness of this team comes naturally. 

"I just think it's natural, and that's better," Valentine said about the team's assist numbers. "It's just natural, there's no one out there saying we need to pass the ball more, we need to get each other shots. We're calling plays for each other and things like that."

This year's MSU team currently has 558 assists on the season, which is less than 100 assists away from the team record of 646 assists in a single season which was set last season, and this year's team has played 12 less games so far. 

At the current pace of 20.7 assists per game, MSU would pass the record in just five more games, and the unselfishness of this team is something MSU head coach Tom Izzo thinks is really special. 

"This team, everybody gets defined by something," Izzo said. "It's been toughness for a lot of our teams, and our defense for a lot of our teams. This team, maybe it could be their 3-point shooting, which is kind of the footprint they are laying here. But, probably the best footprint that should be laid is the unselfishness of this team."

Junior guard Eron Harris said he thinks this team's ability to share the ball is something that will bode well and help carry the team through the rest of the regular season and into the post season. 

Harris who has played some point guard this season, especially with the limited playing ability of Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn Jr., agreed that the selflessness of the team is natural and it is made easier by MSU's deeply talented team. 

“It’s definitely natural, we have a team full of unselfish talented players, and when you have that then you’re going to get a lot of assists," Harris said.

"... I think it makes us really good, on top of the fact that we’re really deep. We have a lot of scorers, a lot of ball handlers and a lot of post people, so we can win a national championship we have the pieces of the puzzle, we’re going to focus in now."