Couch: MSU shows another level against Maryland, has to stay there

EAST LANSING — This is who Michigan State’s basketball team has to be — from Denzel Valentine’s first driving layup to Matt Costello’s pirouette with Tom Izzo in his arms.

Physical, but not stupid. Emotional, but focused. Dominant on the glass, but not wild. A great collective defensively, at every layer. Gritty in the face of discomfort and exhaustion. Resilient to the inconsistent whistle.

This is who MSU can be. The Spartans showed it Saturday night. To a national audience. More importantly, to themselves.

MSU’s 74-65 win over seventh-ranked Maryland came on the back of all of those attributes.

Bright green fight: MSU 74, Maryland 65

It won’t take all of that every night, but if the Spartans want to win anything meaningful this season, they’ll have to be this repeatedly.

“I thought that was the hardest we’ve played in years,” Izzo said, his team’s three-game losing streak over.

“I think that’s the biggest thing we changed was actually thinking the game and not making stupid mistakes,” senior Bryn Forbes added, after busting out of a slump with 25 points.

“We were sick and tired of losing,” Costello said.

Costello wasn’t even supposed to play. He hadn’t practiced since spraining his right ankle during Wednesday’s loss to Nebraska.

He played 32 minutes Saturday, scored 15 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and blocked three shots. His offensive rebounds alone were the difference in the game. Costello had six of them, leading directly to 10 MSU points. The Spartans won by nine. His final offensive rebound clinched the game.

“The guy just sucked it up and played,” said Izzo, who survived a mauling and head slap from Costello in the final seconds.

The same could be said for Valentine, who played 39 minutes — sitting only briefly after rolling his own ankle with 6 minutes remaining. He tallied 19 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists and turned the ball over only twice, pushing the pace regularly in the face of obvious fatigue.

While fans were still booing fouls called against the Spartans, Valentine was leading fast breaks the other way. There was no time for pity Saturday.

“Our fast break was as good as it’s been in a couple years,” Izzo said.

“I think he’s 100 percent healthy, but probably 95 percent wind-wise. He was sucking wind there for a while. I’m proud of Denzel. Somebody missed a couple shots or he’d have a triple-double. More importantly 14 rebounds is a ton for a guard against a team that was 6-(foot)-11, 6-11, 6-10 a lot of the night.”

Eron Harris played his best game at MSU — on a night he made 1 of 8 shots and the player he was guarding, Melo Trimble, hit 9 of 17 to score 24. If you watched, you know better.

Trimble is a brilliant talent. Harris didn’t let him take over this game. MSU didn’t. This was collective defense as well as MSU has done it.

The Spartans avoided foul trouble — only Kenny Goins had four; only Matt McQuad had two before halftime. They out-rebounded the Terrapins by 10.

They were the tougher team.

It’s the first time MSU can say that since Iowa jarred its confidence nine days earlier.

Couch: Hawkeyes knew they were tougher, better than MSU

Three quotes from Iowa players are posted on the wall near the entrance of the Spartans’ locker room, including two from Jarrod Uthoff:

“Just going back to toughness, we knew we were the better team from the get-go. And we wanted to go out and prove it. And we did.”

And …

“They fought us as hard as they could. I think they gave us their best fight. Both times.”

MSU didn’t guarantee anything Saturday. But the Spartans played like a team dead set on not letting previous shortcomings define them. And so a new chapter begins.

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.