The glitzy numbers didn’t mean a thing.
After finishing with 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in an 81-54 blowout over Ohio State in the quarterfinals, the Big Ten player of the year explained what No. 2 Michigan State is really after - a record-tying fifth tourney crown, a No. 1 seed in next week’s NCAA Tournament, and, yes, the school’s third national championship.
“We didn’t accomplish one of our goals, to win the Big Ten championship outright, and we’re kind of mad about it,” Valentine said. “The seniors, me and Matt (Costello) never won a Big Ten championship outright, so we’re kind of mad right now and we’ve got something to play for.”
The motivated Spartans (27-5) are locked in, especially Valentine who could have had a rare triple double if coach Tom Izzo hadn’t put him on the bench for the final 5:28 of the game.
But Valentine knew he could use the rest and spent the rest of the game cheering for his teammates as they rolled to their 11th win in 12 games. Next up is either No. 18 Maryland or Nebraska in Saturday’s second semifinal game.
And in a tournament that has been full of surprises, Valentine and the Big Ten regular-season runners-up look like the closest thing to a sure bet.
Valentine did his part in short, quick bursts Friday.
He scored 10 points in an early 13-3 run that allowed the Spartans to take a 10-point lead less than 6½ minutes into the game. He made a 3-pointer in an 8-0 spurt to open the second half and did all the tidy little things later in a 10-4 run that helped extend the lead to 54-34 with 13:07 to play.
Michigan State pushed the lead to as much as 28 in the second half.
So, naturally, Valentine started looking at the bigger picture.
“Our goal when we got here was to win a national championship and we haven’t accomplished that yet,” Valentine said. “I think we have the perfect team to do it this year, and we’re really hungry to do that this year.”
Their defense looked ready, too.
JaQuan Lyle was the only Ohio State player to reach double figures. He finished with 10, and Michigan State converted 14 Ohio State turnovers into 21 points.
The Buckeyes (20-13) couldn’t get closer than 14 after Michigan State’s initial second-half flurry, and now all coach Thad Matta and his team can do is wait to see if they’ll even get a chance to play in next week’s NCAA Tournament.
Link : http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/11/valentine-leads-no-2-michigan-st-past-ohio-st-81-5/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS
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