Michigan State Wins Third Big Ten Tournament Title

As a child, Denzel Valentine fantasized about making game-winning plays and shots when he played basketball in his driveway.

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.