After a long flirtation, Bryn Forbes at last breaks Michigan State's 3-pointer record

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Bryn Forbes grew up watching Michigan State basketball as a Lansing-area native, but doesn't remember the Spartans' Feb. 23, 2003 game against Syracuse.

That's somewhat surprising, given the events of that game. Spartans sophomore guard Chris Hill sank 10 3-pointers to set a Michigan State and Big Ten record, but he was outdone by Carmelo Anthony and the Orange in a 76-75 loss. Syracuse went on to win the national title that year.

Forbes became plenty aware of that game this year, though. As he hit 3-pointers at a record clip, he came close to Hill's record on several occasions -- eight 3-pointers against Michigan, then seven against Ohio State.

At one point, someone sent him a highlight of those 10 3-pointers on Instagram. Forbes knew then what he was up against. Topping that performance became a personal quest.

"I've flirted with the record," Forbes said. "That was absolutely a goal."

In the second-to-last game of the regular season, Forbes finally toppled the 13-year-old record with 11 3-pointers in Michigan State's 97-66 win over Rutgers on Wednesday night. He found out later that performance is also a Big Ten record.

"For the people that helped me and stuff, it means a lot," Forbes said. "I just remember all the hours I put in. It's kind of important."

The game started out with little promise of being a record-setting night for Forbes. With less than three minutes left in the first half, he was 2-for-5 from deep, and the Spartans trailed a Rutgers team that was winless in Big Ten play.

With 2:23 left, Michigan State called a baseline out of bounds, and Forbes came down the sideline and swished a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer.

He hit another on the Spartans' next possession, then finished the first half by rising up to nail a 3-pointer over a screen with seven seconds left.

Even then, though, Forbes said he didn't have an idea his night could be record-setting.

"You never know," Forbes said. "They were going up the gut, different things like that, and the bigs were locking them in and the guards were making great passes."

Forbes opened the second half with three 3-pointers on Michigan State's first nine possessions. It was at that point, he said, he told Spartans associate coach D.J. Stephens that he wanted to set the record.

"He put me back in, and they ran like five straight plays for me and it fell," Forbes said.

The record-setting shot was one Forbes admitted wouldn't normally take. He caught the ball off-balance, but put up a shot as he fell sideways with 8:03 left. It went in anyway.

"We had an incredible performance from Bryn Forbes," Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. "The job he did, the shots he made, the execution was unbelievable."

Forbes entered the game leading the country with in 3-point percentage, at an even 50 percent. His 103 3-pointers on the year are now third-most in a single season in school history. He needs only 15 more to tie Shawn Respert's school record.

Asked if he's ever seen a 3-point performance like this, Izzo immediately brought up Respert, the school's career 3-point leader. He's not ready to put Forbes above Respert just yet, but the two are certainly in the same sentence.

"The shots he made were shots that he should make, not that many of them," Izzo said. "I thought we executed well, I thought we passed well and I thought we screened well."

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