After the clock hit zeros in No. 2 MSU's 81-54 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament Friday night, Carlton Valentine, father of MSU senior guard Denzel Valentine, stood to his feet and delivered a message to his son's team.
"Hey, focus baby!" Carlton shouted from his front row seat to MSU's coaches and players. "Two more!"
In a first glance at the box score of Friday night's game, with another spectacular 19 point, nine rebound and eight assist game from Valentine, in addition to the 27-point victory, it appeared MSU had its way with the Buckeyes.
However, several mental lapses in the first half was allowing Ohio State to stick around in the early going.
And MSU head basketball coach Tom Izzo was having none of it, especially with it being one and done time.
On consecutive dead ball situations in the first half, Izzo took Eron Harris and Valentine out of the game after each of them had made a mistake. But after taking a few moments to yell at his players and use it as a teaching moment, he subbed them right back into the game.
"They know me," Izzo said. "And I know them and I'm going to push them and once in a while they push me and that's what I've enjoyed about them."
However, Izzo's message is a message that's well received, players said. Izzo knows a thing or two about March. After all, he's coached seven teams to a Final Four.
"He keeps you on your toes," Harris said. "He's going to make his team close to being perfect because he's going to keep you accountable when you're on the floor because you know you're going to come out. But you've got to stay poised and you've got to stay confident when you're on the floor. And so that helps us out a lot."
While the Spartans took a 33-26 lead into the half, Izzo still wasn't happy. And as he began to get into his team at the break, he had Valentine help deliver his message.
"I told (Valentine), 'You going to let me do this?'" Izzo said. "Or do you want to jump in and help me? These guys are bigger than me. They're your size."
The second half was a different story, as the Spartans cruised to the 27-point victory and an appearance in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
And as the Spartans continue to make their post season run, the focus Izzo has tried so hard to instill in his team remains.
"I think we're pretty dialed in," MSU senior forward Matt Costello said. "We hadn't played in a week so we needed to knock a little rust off to get back into the swing of things. But once we did that we were rolling so we've got to be ready for tomorrow."
In Izzo's case, he's just excited to get back to work.
"It's one and done time," Izzo said. "The gloves are off."
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
