Thursday night was senior night at the Breslin Center, but it was the sophomores and juniors who stole the show as Michigan State beat Iowa, 86-76.
Travis Trice was 4-5 from the field and led the Spartans with 17 points off the bench. Denzel Valentine looked well on his way to a triple-double in the first half, but finished with 13 points, six rebounds and nine assists.
With their shot of at least a share of the Big Ten regular season completely gone, Michigan State tries to build their tournament resume as they take on Iowa Thursday tonight in East Lansing.
The Spartans have dropped their last two games and three out of their last four. Including tonight’s Iowa game, MSU has two games left before the start of the Big Ten tournament.
During the television broadcast of the game on Tuesday, ESPN’s Mike Tirico mentioned that Russell Byrd, “used to be a good shooter.”
Byrd proved that he has still got the magic when he hit a three-pointer in overtime to seal a 71-69 victory for the Spartans.
The No. 7 Michigan State Spartans (18-2, 7-1) are on the road once again headed to Iowa City, Iowa, to take on the No. 15 Iowa Hawkeyes (16-4, 5-2) at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Michigan State comes into this game after suffering a tough loss to Michigan, yet still being undefeated on the road.
In the Spartans last game against the No. 10 Michigan Wolverines, they fell short, 80-75.