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 The Big Ten Player of the Year hit the game's most important shot
again Sunday.
Valentine had 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and No. 2
Michigan State won its third Big Ten tournament championship in five
years, defeating No. 13 Purdue 66-62 on Sunday in the championship
game.
Despite the win, the Spartans unexpectedly failed to gain a No. 1
seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Valentine's off balance jumper with 1:45 remaining gave the
second-seeded Spartans (29-5) a 64-61 lead. Purdue's Vince Edwards,
who led all scorers with 19 points, made 1 of 2 free throws with
1:26 to go, but the Boilermakers (26-8) did not score again.
"When I am driving up the court, I am thinking about how I dreamed
of this kind of stuff when I was playing in my driveway as a kid,"
Valentine said, "I am always thinking about big time moments.
"On that play, I came off a screen. Rapheal Davis is a good defender
and didn't quit on the play. He almost blocked the shot. I pumped
faked and made the shot."
Spartan guard Bryn Forbes made two free throws with 8.6 seconds to
go to ice it.
"This was the battle cry of these seniors since we lost here in the
Final Four last April," Izzo said. "They all came through. We still
didn't play well offensively down the stretch, but we did enough
defensively to win. This was a hack of a championship."
A.J. Hammons and Caleb Swanigan each had 11 for Purdue, which had a
five-game winning streak snapped. Hammons struggled all day against
Matt Costello and Colby Wollenman.
"Colby is always ready to play," Costello said. "He muscled A.J. and
Isaac Haas all day."
Eron Harris' 3-pointer and a Wollenman putback gave Michigan State a
62-55 lead with 5:10 to play.
A Hammons dunk cut the Michigan State lead to 52-51, but a Forbes
3-pointer at 7:32 gave Michigan State a 55-51 advantage.
"When my shot isn't falling, I have to play defense," said Forbes,
who helped limit Purdue to 3 of 15 from 3-point range and 38.2
percent overall (21 of 55).
A 3-pointer from Johnny Hill and a Hill layup closed the Michigan
State lead to 52-49 with 8:21 remaining, prompting a Spartans'
timeout. But Purdue didn't have enough.
"Michigan State made it very difficult for us to get the ball
inside, and they did a great job rebounding," Purdue coach Matt
Painter said. "We played tough and grew this weekend."
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Davis said rebounding was a huge factor with Michigan State winning
that battle, 41-31.
"They got to a lot of loose balls, and that was big," Davis said.
"And Valentine makes a great shot."
Purdue used an 8-0 run to close the gap to 46-41 with 13:12
remaining before a Deyonta Davis dunk pushed the lead to 48-41 with
11:58 to go.
Trailing 19-16 with 7:53 remaining in the first half, Michigan State
finished the half on a 20-7 run to take a 36-26 lead at
intermission.
The Spartans began their run with a 9-0 burst that included a
Valentine 3-pointer. After Purdue's Rapheal Davis made a three-point
play to get the Boilermakers to within 25-22, Michigan State hit the
Boilermakers with another 9-0 for a 34-22 advantage with 1:42 left
before intermission.
Valentine had 10 points, three rebounds and four assists in the
opening 20 minutes, when the Spartans shot 41.2 percent (14 of 34)
and out-rebounded Purdue 24-17.
Edwards had eight first-half points for Purdue, which shot only 33.3
percent (10 of 30). Hammons added six points and six rebounds.
NOTES: Before the Big Ten title game, Purdue had shot at least 50
percent from the field in six consecutive games ... The Boilermakers
defeated No. 12 seed Illinois and No. 8 seed Michigan to advance to
the title game. Purdue won the 2009 Big Ten tourney and was
runner-up to Michigan in 1998. ... Michigan State was playing in its
third consecutive Big Ten tourney title game, winning in 2014 and
losing to Wisconsin last year. ... The Spartans defeated No. 7 seed
Ohio State and No. 3 seed Maryland to reach the final game. ...
Purdue defeated Michigan State 82-81 in overtime in the team's only
regular-season meeting.
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