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Tom Izzo calls Denzel Valentine’s play during foreign tour ‘unbelievable’

Denzel Valentine

Denzel Valentine (AP Photo)

AP

Michigan State wrapped up a 12-day tour of Italy on Monday.

The Spartans’ one-point loss to the senior national team from Georgia sent them back to East Lansing with three straight losses, but Tom Izzo is taking some positives away from the trip abroad.

“Denzel (Valentine), the first three games was unbelievable,” Izzo during an interview The Drive with Jack on WQTX, via Kyle of Austin of MLive.com. “He could have been the MVP of the whole tournament.”

Valentine began the trip with 16 points in a lopsided win over Basket Fiorentina. From there, the competition got much tougher, as the Spartans dropped their second game, 93-75, to the Russian National Team, a team ranked sixth in the FIBA world rankings. In a losing effort, Valentine had a game-high 21 points with five assists in 34 minutes of action.

He followed that performance up with 23 points in a 90-69 loss to the Italian National Team, ranked No. 36 in the world. In four games, the senior wing averaged 17.0 points per game.

The 6-foot-5 Valentine is coming off a junior campaign where he averaged 14.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assits per game. His offseason also included a stint with USA Basketball in the 2015 Pan-Am Games.

Gavin Schilling and freshman Matt McQuaid were also praised by Izzo in the interview. Byrn Forbes scored in double figures three times on the trip, while Tum Tum Nairn recorded 16 assists to six turnovers in the three games against the senior national teams.

Michigan State’s impact transfer guard Eron Harris sat out the trip after his offseason arrest.

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