IOWA CITY, Iowa — It took Matt Costello 47 games to record his first double-double, but statistics were the furthest thing from his mind in the aftermath of Michigan State's 71-69 overtime victory over Iowa on Tuesday night.
"We had to come in here and clean up today,'' said Costello, who posted career-highs in points (11) and rebounds (12). "A lot of our energy came from that Michigan game. We should have won that, lost it in the last 10 minutes, so we didn't want to be counted out just because we have two guys missing.
"We have some pride in ourselves, and we wanted to win this game.''
Rival Michigan handed Michigan State an 80-75 defeat on Saturday night at Breslin Center, but the No. 7-ranked Spartans (19-2, 8-1) have yet to lose away from East Lansing this season, winning 10 games away from home and six on opponents' home courts after snapping the Hawkeyes' 20-game home win streak on Tuesday night.
Costello proved to be as poised as any of his veteran teammates, sinking five of six free throws despite a raucous, sold-out crowd of 15,400 at No. 15 Iowa (16-5, 5-3).
"Matt really played his tail off,'' Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said of the sophomore center from Bay City. "He did everything he had to do.''
Costello was on the receiving end of a key pass from Denzel Valentine with 1:47 left in overtime, reeling in the pass and drawing a foul to go to the free-throw line with the game tied at 64-64.
Costello made the first free throw, but he missed the second.
Valentine came down with the rebound.
"When he got that rebound, I was like, 'Yeah, let's go!' '' Costello said. "You just got to be ready with Denzel on those passes. He has such great court vision, and he doesn't need to set up his passes. You have to be looking and ready.''
Valentine passed back out to Keith Appling after grabbing the free-throw miss, and Appling took the ball to the rim.
When Appling's shot went awry, Costello was there for the tip-in to extend the Spartans' lead to 67-64 with 1:14 left.
The Hawkeyes failed to draw even the remainder of the game.
"I was feeling good in walk through, and it carried through the rest of the day,'' said Costello, who has been getting his energy back since missing four games with mononucleosis in December. "I've been wanting to get going as far as some statistical things, and tonight was a good night to get it.''
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