Valentine, No. 3 Michigan State rally to beat No. 24 Louisville
EAST LANSING, Mich.
Denzel Valentine dominated when No. 3 Michigan State needed its senior star to deliver.
Valentine scored 11 of his 25 points in the final 5:06, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer and all six of his free throws in the final minute, to help the Spartans seal a 71-67 comeback win over No. 24 Louisville on Wednesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
"At winning time, he rose up and that's what makes him special," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said.
The Spartans (8-0) trailed by as much as 13 in the first half and didn't take their first lead until there was 6:47 left.
After a fifth tie in a 5-minute stretch that had the intensity of an NCAA tournament game, Valentine made a 3-pointer, set up Deyonta Davis for an alley-oop dunk and a connected on a shot in the lane to put Michigan State up 65-58 with 1:54 remaining.
"The one guy we didn't want to make plays was Valentine," Louisville assistant coach Ralph Willard said. "We wanted somebody else to beat us, going into the game, and unfortunately we gave him an opportunity to win the basketball game. And as a lot of great players do, he did it. He came through and made plays for them."
Michigan State's Bryn Forbes scored a season-high 20 and Davis had nine points and six rebounds.
The Spartans beat Providence on Sunday night in California to win the Wooden Legacy tournament, then flew home and arrived home at about 7 a.m. EST on Monday.
"To pull out a win like this was huge," Valentine said. "We weren't in the best of shape. It was like a one-day prep, but you can't make excuses like that. You just get the job done."
Louisville (5-1) pulled within two points three times in the final minute, but couldn't get closer because Valentine didn't miss a free throw.
Damion Lee finished with 23 points and Trey Lewis scored 21 points for the Cardinals in their first game this season on an opponent's home court.
"We played well enough to win this game," Lewis said. "We played great in the first half."
Coach Rick Pitino didn't talk to reporters after the game, leaving Willard to relay what he said to his players.
"We feel we had a great opportunity to win this basketball game and it slipped away," Willard said.
TIP-INS
Louisville: The Cardinals took the lead and kept it for much of the game because they made a lot of shots following Michigan State's baskets. "I was so impressed with them for two-thirds of that game," Izzo said. Late in the game, though, Louisville's offense struggled to create open shots and its chance to earn a big win slipped away.
Michigan State: Kenny Goins made the most of an opportunity to play after starter Javon Bess was benched for poor play. The redshirt freshman forward had 13 rebounds, equaling his total from his first seven games, and scored a career-high five points. "Kenny played out of his mind," Valentine said. "I didn't know he had that in him. I just told him he earned my respect the way he battled." Bess started, played six minutes in the first half and just two minutes after halftime.
UP NEXT
Louisville hosts Grand Canyon on Saturday.
Michigan State plays Binghamton at home on Saturday.
BIG-TIME COACHES
The game featured national-championship winning coaches, each of whom has seven Final Four appearances. In their last matchup, Izzo helped the Spartans beat Louisville in a 2015 NCAA tournament regional final.
REUNION
Forbes and Lewis played together at Cleveland State before transferring away to play for Louisville and Michigan State. "Bryn is a great shooter, an unbelievable shooter," Lewis said. "We just gave him too many open looks."
