Win No. 500 for Tom Izzo. Triple-double No. 2 for Denzel Valentine. Not a bad night for the Spartans.
Michigan State had plenty to be thankful for on Thanksgiving night, beating Boston College, 99-68, out in California as part of the Wooden Classic.
Valentine — who became the fourth Spartan to ever record a triple-double in last week's big win over Kansas — matched a career high with 29 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out 10 assists to join Magic Johnson and Draymond Green as the only Michigan State players with multiple triple-doubles. Valentine hit six 3-pointers and scored 14 of his points during an especially electrifying stretch in the second half, part of a 25-8 run that allowed Michigan State to turn this one into a real blowout.
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Valentine has scored in double figures in four of the team's five games this season, all wins, and he's grabbed double-digit rebounds in three of those games.
The Spartans shot a sizzling 62.7 percent from the field and 52.4 percent from 3-point range, also holding a 38-20 rebounding advantage and assisting on 28 of 37 made field goals.
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Tum Tum Nairn and Deyonta Davis joined Valentine in double figures. Nairn scored all of his career-high 13 points in the first half, also handing out eight assists on the night. Davis scored 10 points, the freshman forward with his third double-digit scoring performance of this five-game season.
Izzo's 500th win came in his 21st season, and he's the eighth Division-I coach ever to reach 500 wins in his first 21 seasons.
Green was in attendance for his former coach's big accomplishment and gifted Izzo a watch following the win.
Michigan State next faces Louisville as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Thursday.