By LARRY LAGE
Bryn Forbes pump-faked, put the ball on the floor and lofted a shot through the hoop.
The slumping shooting guard bounced back and No. 11 Michigan State did, too.
Forbes scored 25 points and Denzel Valentine had 19 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Spartans in a 74-65 win over No. 7 Maryland on Saturday night.
“I felt like I was flowing,” he said. “It felt great to do that again.”
Forbes, who is averaging 13 points a game, had scored a total of five points in the last two home games, both losses, on 1 of 14 shooting combined. The senior swished his second shot, a mid-range jumper from the right wing, early in the game and finished with eight field goals, including four 3-pointers.
“We were going to Bryn right away,” coach Tom Izzo said. “I felt like we had to do that. We had to get him going. I’m happy for him, too. There’s no one who works harder.”
Michigan State (17-4, 4-4 Big Ten) had lost three straight games, including its last two at home.
“We felt like we were on the bottom of the world,” Valentine said. “But I think we’re back.”
The Terrapins (17-3, 6-2) have lost just two of their last 13 games and both setbacks were in the state of Michigan. They fell to the Wolverines on the road earlier this month, and weren’t surprised the Spartans were motivated to win.
“They were eager to come get us,” said Maryland’s Melo Trimble, who scored 24 points.
Robert Carter had 13 for the Terrapins, who were outrebounded by 10 overall and gave up 17 offensive rebounds that turned into 15 second-chance points for Michigan State.
“It’s definitely a problem,” coach Mark Turgeon said. “We have to be better, no matter how good they are.”
Matt Costello had 15 points and 12 rebounds, including a few late in the game at both ends of the court, along with three blocks and two steals for the Spartans.
“We knew Costello was going to be their X factor, and it really showed out there,” Trimble said. “We couldn’t buy a rebound when we were on defense and he really killed us on the boards.”
Costello might’ve played the best game of his career, and clearly was excited about how things went.
When the senior forward was taken out of the game, he lifted Izzo off the ground and twirled him around before setting him down and finding a spot on the bench.
“Man, I love playing with someone who’s that fired up,” Forbes said. “When he picked Coach up, I loved that.”
Izzo said he was surprised Costello was healthy enough to play because of an ankle ailment from the previous game kept him out of recent practices and the game-day walkthrough.
“Costello was off the charts,” Izzo said.
Michigan State led for 38-plus minutes in the game and was ahead 35-29 at halftime. The Spartans made several stops late in the game, and sealed the victory by making three throws, finishing 23 of 29 at the line.
TIP-INS
Maryland: The Terrapins entered the game as the only Big Ten team with five players averaging at least 10 points a game. They had just two players in double figures and combined to make just 39 percent of their shots. Rasheed Sulaimon scored eight, Jake Layman had seven points and freshman reserve Diamond Stone added six. They each were averaging at least 10.4 points per game.
Michigan State: Izzo won his 512th game, tying former Purdue coach Gene Keady for the second-most at one Big Ten school and trailing Indiana coach Bob Knight’s 661 wins with the Hoosiers.
UP NEXT
Maryland hosts No. 9 Iowa on Thursday.
Michigan State plays at Northwestern on Thursday.
SELECT CLUB
Valentine is the first player in Big Ten history with at least 1,300 career points, 700 rebounds and 500 assists. Just four players since 2000 have at least those same totals in the three categories, including BYU senior guard Kyle Collinsworth.
___