Spartan Seniors Continue Dominance at Big Ten Tournament with 62-58 Win Over Maryland

Spartan Seniors Continue Dominance at Big Ten Tournament with 62-58 Win Over Maryland United Center Chicago, IL The Michigan State Spartans improved their

Spartan Seniors Continue Dominance at Big Ten Tournament with 62-58 Win Over Maryland

United Center

Chicago, IL

The Michigan State Spartans improved their NCAA tournament seeding with a 62-58 win over Maryland today and improved their record on the season to 23-10. Perhaps and even more impressive stat is the MSU seniors improved their career record at the Big Ten Tournament to 9-1. An amazing number for a program just a few short years ago that seemed to look past this event, waiting for the Big Dance.

The Terrapins had beaten the Spartans twice this year already and looked to be cruising in that direction early at one point up 16, but that was not to be. Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon expressed it, “We started out great today making some shots. They weren't making shots. Second half we just kind of lost our rhythm. If we just could have made a couple shots in that stretch or had a couple really good possessions in that stretch or got to the foul line, could have stemmed the tide a little bit, and I think the outcome might have been different, but we couldn't. Give them credit.”

Tom Izzo described the game in a more simple tone. “Well, we don't make it easy, I can promise you that. I think throughout a season, you try to learn a little bit more about your team, they try to learn about you, and it showed a lot of character. We were beaten twice by this team, and you get down 15, 16 points, whatever we did, and some of it was our fault, but some of it was incredible offense on their part. They hit every shot they took at the beginning, and it wasn't all bad defense, it was really some very, very, very good offense. “

Senior Spartan guard Travis Trice described the mood in the Spartan locker room at halftime when Izzo challenged his squad. “It really started at halftime. Coach came in and said either you're going to get the job done or I'm not going to play you, and B.J. responded like great players do at that point. I mean, somebody else might crumble, but B.J. stepped up to the occasion, and he came down clutch for us in the stretch. “

Fellow senior Branden Dawson described his coach’s halftime speech, “at halftime Coach, he came after all of us, and as far as myself, he told me that I have to play, and I have to pick it up. That's what I did. He said that in the four minute stretch, my energy you could tell it was different from the beginning of the game. I think when I play like that, it just gives this team a huge uplift.”

Despite losing both regular season matchups to the Terrapins in their first season in the Big Ten, historically MSU has done well against them and today was no exception. Michigan State has won all three post-season matchups with Maryland. In addition to today’s win, the Spartans defeated the Terrapins in both the 2003 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, 60-58, and in the 2010 Second Round, 85-83.

For the Spartans it was really a matter of will winning this game. Michigan State went on a 13-0 run in the second half, leaving Maryland scoreless for 4:24. This stat will surely shock you if you didn’t watch the tilt, The Spartans only led for 6:26 of the game.

For the Spartans, Denzel Valentine only had three points on the day. Had I told prior to the contest that would be the case you would have most certainly thought the Spartans would lose. On a day that his shot wasn’t working (he was 1-8) Valentine did so much more. He had four rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Add to that some great defense and passing that lead to buckets, but not officially were assists.

Trice said of his junior teammate’s ability to change a game he isn’t scoring in with glowing terms. “I think that just speaks to the type of player Denzel is. Other guys might get down not hitting a shot until that point or not even taking one really. But that's the kind of guy he is, he just rises to the occasion. He did a lot of things that don't show in the stat sheet, but he also had seven assists. I really think him and B.J. carried us down the stretch, just the way he was controlling the game offensively, getting other people involved and throwing inside to Matt. His stat sheet might not look crazy, but honestly he was one of the key factors in why we won tonight.”

Dawson took the praise of Valentine even higher adding, “I always tell Zel, myself and Coach, we always tell Zel that just never let your offense affect your defense. And as far as myself, I'm not the type of guy if I don't score points, I'm going to come down and get a rebound, get a defensive stop, just do something, just help me out, so that's what Zel did tonight. The shots weren't there, but he just kept battling and against Dez Wells, and I think that's really what stood out the most that he just kept battling and kept defending.”

The Spartans will be playing for the Big Ten Tournament title tomorrow. That game tips off at 3:30 EST.