Kansas vs. Michigan St.: Score, Highlights, Reaction from Champions Classic 2015

Senior leaders typically shine the brightest in March during the college basketball season. Michigan State's Denzel Valentine didn’t want to wait that long.

The forward directed his team to a 79-73 victory over the fourth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks in the second game of Tuesday's Champions Classic in Chicago with a triple-double. In all, Valentine scored 29 points, dished out 12 assists and grabbed 12 rebounds while No. 13 Michigan State overcame a double-digit deficit in the second half.

Valentine received some help from freshman Matt McQuaid, who drilled a crucial three-pointer in the final minute to open up a four-point lead, and Matt Costello, who battled through foul trouble on his way to 10 points and nine rebounds.

Valentine was the main story, though, and ESPN's Jay Williams offered high praise for the senior:

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports pointed to the overall effort level during the comeback and looked at it through the prism of Tom Izzo's program as a whole:

Despite the loss, Kansas controlled the majority of the first half and built a double-digit lead behind Perry Ellis. Ellis scored 14 of his 21 points in the initial 20 minutes, but the Spartans battled back and trimmed the lead to 41-35 by intermission.

Matt Scott of 247Sports realized the Jayhawks missed an opportunity to finish Michigan State off early with lackluster play down the stretch of the first half:

Even with the burst before the buzzer, Michigan State's biggest concern was foul trouble. The team committed 15 first-half personal fouls, and Mike Wilson of 247Sports noted most of them were in the frontcourt:

Chris Solari of the Lansing State Journal offered one potential solution:

Foul trouble or not, Michigan State kept the momentum rolling at the start of the second half, thanks largely to Valentine. He hit a three, scored inside the lane and assisted on another basket in the first four minutes, and the Spartans suddenly cut the lead to 49-46. Matt Charboneau of the Detroit News noted the senior was doing a little bit of everything:

Kansas extended its lead to 56-48 with a small run, but Michigan State remained within striking distance because of its effort level on the offensive glass. Costello pulled in multiple boards on that end on one possession and earned praise from Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal in the process:

Kyle Austin of MLive also weighed in on Michigan State's approach in the face of offensive struggles. In all, the Spartans outrebounded the Jayhawks, 45-35:

Kansas answered with a run of its own behind Ellis and Frank Mason III to push the lead to 61-50, but Valentine again worked his magic and hit a three and created a layup in transition. The Spartans climbed back to 62-58 with less than eight minutes remaining, and rebounding was becoming a pressing issue for the Jayhawks, as CJ Moore of Bleacher Report recognized:

"

This is KU's issue with playing Perry Ellis and Traylor together. Not a good rebounding team with those two as bigs.

— CJ Moore (@CJMooreBR) November 18, 2015"

However, Kansas received a major break at the under-eight timeout when Costello picked up his fourth foul, as Joe Rexrode of the Detroit Free Press described:

Michigan State extended the run to tie the game at 62, and Valentine became the fourth player in program history to record a triple-double in the process, joining Magic Johnson, Draymond Green and Charlie Bell. Spartan Basketball shared its congratulations:

Behind Valentine's efforts, Michigan State took its first lead since it was ahead 6-4 early in the first half and carried the 68-66 advantage into the under-four-minute timeout. Solari summed it up nicely:

From there, Ellis scored to tie the game, Valentine hit a jumper, Wayne Selden Jr. answered with a three and Valentine again scored on a runner in the lane. After the back-and-forth sequence, the Spartans had a narrow 72-71 lead and the basketball following a critical defensive stop with less than 75 seconds remaining.

With all eyes on Valentine, McQuaid drilled the biggest shot of the game from beyond the arc in the corner and gave his team a 75-71 advantage. McQuaid then blocked a shot on the other end and drew this reaction from Ryan Krasnoo of Sports Illustrated:

Kansas trimmed the deficit to 75-73 courtesy of two Selden free throws with 30 seconds left, but Valentine responded with two of his own at the charity stripe. The Jayhawks missed four three-pointers down the stretch after a handful of offensive rebounds, and Michigan State added two more free throws to win, 79-73.

What's Next?

Kansas doesn't get much of a break in the nonconference schedule following the difficult loss to Michigan State.

While it does play Chaminade, Loyola (Md.), Harvard, Holy Cross, Oregon State, Montana and UC Irvine before Big 12 play, Kansas is part of a deep Maui Invitational field that includes UCLA, Indiana, Vanderbilt, UNLV and Wake Forest. The Jayhawks also play Kentucky in January and must travel to San Diego State. There will likely be multiple defeats on their resume before the conference season.

As for the victorious Spartans, they also challenged themselves in nonconference play with showdowns against Louisville and Florida. They also could face Arizona in the Wooden Legacy.

Both of these teams deserve credit for scheduling difficult opponents before play begins in their respective power leagues. Even if that leads to some defeats, they should see the reward in March when the selection committee is impressed with their resumes and grants them more favorable seeds in the NCAA tournament.

Postgame Reaction

The main story in the aftermath was Valentine’s performance, but he wanted to focus on the team result instead during an interview on the ESPN broadcast, via Mike Griffith of MLive:

"

We just wanted to win, that was the main point.

It wasn't pretty, didn't have the best numbers, we had a lot of turnovers, we didn't play the best defense, we just got the job done…We just have to stay with it and stay consistent, (and) when stuff goes wrong, keep battling, keep fighting. We were down 11 and we didn't quit.

"

Austin also noted Valentine said “he was ready to pass out with five minutes left. Assistant coach Mike Garland told him he's playing too well to lose the game.”

Valentine took the time to recognize McQuaid's performance in the aftermath, per Charboneau: "I forgot ... Matt McQuaid knocking down those threes!"

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo put it best, though, when he said, “Thank God he’s mine,” while discussing Valentine’s outing, per Wilson.

As for the Jayhawks, Selden was ready to move forward after the loss, per Kansas Basketball: “I'm not too worried about our team right now we are at the point now where we can fix it, keep pushing forward.”

Ellis commented on coach Bill Self’s message for his team after the game, per Kansas Basketball: “We have to learn from this and become a better team.”

The Jayhawks have no choice with Maui looming.