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Maryland had Michigan State

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seemingly right where it wanted Saturday night at the Breslin Center. The No. 7 Terps had momentum after turning a six-point halftime deficit into a four-point lead. They had the No. 11 Spartans in foul trouble and they had all but silenced a sellout crowd.

But after Michigan State coach Tom Izzo called an early timeout to help stop Maryland’s run and watched his team take back the lead, Mark Turgeon called one for a completely different reason with a little over 10 minutes left and the game tied.

“I was trying to get my guys rest,” Turgeon said later. “And then we just didn’t play well. I was just trying to get my guys rest, and it’s hard to sub. I thought Rasheed [Sulaimon] was really tired. It didn’t work.”

A game-changing 9-0 run by Michigan State out of that timeout made Maryland play catch-up the rest of the night. Though the Terps had a couple of chances late, the momentum swing returned to the Spartans and allowed their fans to do something they hadn’t done in awhile – celebrate.

Michigan’s State 74-65 win broke a rare three-game losing streak, preventing the Spartans from enduring their first four-game skid since they lost five in a row in 1996-97, Izzo’s second year as coach.

Some of the same problems that have troubled the Terps lately – getting badly outrebounded, particularly on the defensive boards, as well as not getting out on 3-point shooters – were magnified by Michigan State (17-4, 4-4 Big Ten).

The Spartans outrebounded the Terps overall (46-36) and nearly had twice as many offensive rebounds (17-9), including one by senior forward Matt Costello in the final minute after Maryland had closed the gap to three points.

Senior guard Denzel Valentine had 14 rebounds, a career-high, to go with 19 points and eight assists. Senior guard Bryn Forbes, who had missed 17 of 22 shots in his previous three games and was coming off a 1-for-8 performance against Nebraska on Wednesday, hit eight of 15 shots (four of eight 3-pointers) to finish with a game-high 25 points.

“I thought Michigan State was terrific tonight, the building was terrific,” Turgeon said. “They played with energy and unbelievable effort. That showed on the glass. Our two keys were rebounding and transition defense, and we didn’t do either of them very well.”

As for Forbes, Turgeon said, “He made a couple of shots early. You look at their wins and losses, and his numbers. We knew that. We knew he was going to be a key to the game. I thought we did a better job in the second half guarding him off screens. Jake [Layman] did a great job. Give the kid credit. He worked hard and had a nice game.”

Except for the run to start the second half, Maryland’s offense mainly consisted of sophomore guard Melo Trimble breaking down the Michigan State defense as the shot clock ticked away. Trimble made tough shots to keep the Terps close in the first half and helped them take the lead briefly in the second half.

But even Trimble, who finished with a team-high 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting (though only 4-for-11 on 3-pointers) as well as seven rebounds (tied with Sulaimon for the team high), seemed to tire down the stretch. He committed two crucial turnovers with the Terps still close enough to come back.

Asked the difference between the start of the second half and the rest of the half, Trimble said, “I think we just let up. We started running in transition [to start the half]. We found we’re best in transition against pretty good teams and it should have carried over to this game. I think we got gassed a little bit. They’re a tremendous transition team. I thought we let up and let them off the hook by not running.”

The loss will likely push Maryland (17-3, 6-2) out of the top 10 for the first time all season.

Trailing 62-56, the Terps cut their deficit to three on a 3-pointer by Trimble with 5:02 to go. But Maryland couldn’t stop the Spartans from getting the ball inside, as Costello was fouled twice and made all four free throws.

Costello, who had not practiced the previous few days since spraining an ankle in the loss to Nebraska, finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots. His biggest rebound came on the offensive boards in the final seconds when junior Alvin Ellis III missed a corner 3.

At the time, Maryland trailed by only three with 28 seconds left.

Freshman Diamond Stone, who had pulled Maryland to within 68-65, was beaten to the rebound by Costello on that play and Forbes eventually was fouled, making both free throws. The Spartans hit 23 of 29 free throws, compared to just 13 of 16 for the Terps.

“We’ve just got to be tougher on the glass,” said junior forward Robert Carter Jr., who finished with 13 points and five rebounds. “It came down to a rebound. Both have a chance to win. We gave it up, unfortunately. We’re boxing out, we’re just not attacking the ball. Everybody’s got to go attack it at the same time.”

Izzo, who had more than 150 of his former players in attendance watching the game, did some things he normally doesn’t in trying to get his team out of its recent skid. He shortened his bench. He even called a timeout early in the half to stop Maryland’s momentum.

There was also the 9-0 run out of the timeout Turgeon called.

“For the most part, every time there was a dead ball, I thought we responded,” Izzo said. “Sometimes I hold onto my timeouts. I chewed myself out for the Iowa game and a little bit Nebraska for holding onto timeouts. … I liked the way my guys responded. I liked the way they executed coming out of those. I thought it was a big part of the game.”

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