Moments before the No. 10 MSU Spartans (20-4, 7-4 Big Ten) took the court in their 89-73 victory against the University of Michigan Wolverines (17-7, 7-4) Saturday at the Crisler Center, that’s when it hit MSU senior forward Matt Costello.
“When we broke her down, when we prayed before the game, there was about a minute where we bring everybody in,” Costello said. “I pray before the game. I just realized it was my last time at Michigan and everything just kind of hit me and so, during the starting lineups, when it was black for them for the announcements, I was just bawling like a little baby.”
MSU won the opening tip, found senior guard Bryn Forbes for a 3-pointer nine seconds into the game to go up 3-0. And even after U-M took a quick 5-3 lead at the 18:46 mark of the first half, MSU answered with an Eron Harris 3-pointer four seconds later.
They never looked back.
The Spartans dominated in every facet of the game. They shot 14-of-22 from behind the arc to U-M’s 8-of-28 performance, making a mind-blowing 64 percent of their shots and out-rebounding the Wolverines 35-20.
But as it has been all year long, it was MSU’s seniors — playing in their last game against their in-state rival — which led MSU to victory.
“Our three seniors won us the game,” MSU head basketball coach Tom Izzo said. “It was Costello, Forbes and (Denzel) Valentine that came through.”
Forbes, in his second year with MSU after transferring from Cleveland State University a year ago, led the Spartans with 29 points on a 10-of-13 shooting performance from the field, including an 8-of-10 showing from 3-point range.
Along the way, Forbes helped fellow seniors Valentine and Costello clinch a career winning-record against U-M of 5-3.
Costello finished the game going 6-for-8 from the field with 14 points and eight rebounds while Valentine flirted with another triple-double, finishing with 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. MSU’s three senior leaders combined for 64 of the team’s 89 points.
“It’s one of the most important things being a Michigan State Spartan is finishing your legacy against Michigan, and I’m just glad we could finish this way,” Costello said. “I’m proud of (Valentine and Forbes) and what they were able to accomplish today.”
Unless the two teams meet in this year’s Big Ten Tournament or NCAA Tournament, Forbes will finish his career as a Spartan a perfect 3-0 against the Wolverines.
As a lifelong MSU fan, that means a lot.
“It’s huge,” Forbes said. “This is probably the last time we get to play in this atmosphere and this rivalry and it’s just tradition. We’re part of tradition and happened to come out and win this one.”
The fact three MSU seniors have been stepping up the way they have lately is a breath of fresh air for Izzo. But it’s also a trend college basketball might be getting back to, with top teams like Oklahoma, Iowa and North Carolina all having successful teams stacked with upperclassmen.
“It seems like the teams that are in the top have more senior-leaden teams at this point,” Izzo said. “That’s all around the country. ... So seniors are important. They’re valuable and I think when (Valentine) ... I didn’t want to leave him in there, but the guy was close to a triple-double, which would have been an incredible feat for him here, but the victory was every bit as good.”
For now however, the Spartans will look ahead to the work they have left to do this year, and how they will accomplish the goals they set for themselves at the beginning of the season.
“We’ve got a lot to work on to be a championship team I think,” Valentine said. “But we’re making progress and gaining confidence at the right time and I think that’s good for us at this point.”
