While Terrapins men’s basketball guard Rasheed Sulaimon’s offensive contributions have fluctuated throughout conference play, his defense has remained steady.

In 41 minutes Tuesday night, the senior scored just two points. Still, Sulaimon locked down Northwestern’s second-leading scorer Tre Demps, holding him to 3-for-14 shooting on a day when the Terps needed every stop.

Coach Mark Turgeon will likely call on his best on-ball defender again for a big night defensively when the No. 7 Terps square off against No. 11 Michigan State in East Lansing, Michigan, on Saturday night. Center Damonte Dodd said Sulaimon will probably be tasked with guarding Denzel Valentine, arguably the most versatile player in the Big Ten.

“Rasheed’s going to wear him down,” Dodd said.

Valentine, who missed four games with a knee injury, leads the Spartans (16-4, 3-4 Big Ten) in points per game (18.3) and assists per game (6.6). The 6-foot-5 guard also ranks second on Michigan State with 7.6 rebounds per game.

He didn’t pose much of problem in the Terps’ three contests against the Spartans a season ago. Playing without Sulaimon, who transferred from Duke in the offseason, the Terps held Valentine to a combined 6-for-26 shooting as he averaged 5.3 points and 5.3 assists across the three matchups.

It was a large reason why the Terps (17-2, 6-1) were able to go 2-1 in the contests. Nonetheless, Valentine has hit another level this season.

“What a year he’s having,” Turgeon said. “We will try to figure something out. You’re not going to stop him. Hopefully we can slow him down and make him really work for it.”

Only once this season has Valentine been held to less than 10 points. Plus, he was at his best in Michigan State’s toughest game to date, a 79-73 win over then-No. 4 Kansas. Valentine exploded for 29 points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds — one of his two triple-doubles this season.

“If he ends up with 20-something points, he [has] to do it on 18-20 shots,” Turgeon said. “That’s really what you want. He’ll be a focus for us, there’s no doubt about it.”

Behind Valentine’s superb senior campaign, Michigan State climbed to the top of the rankings in the fifth week of the season. The Spartans remained there until week 9, but have taken a tumbling fall since Big Ten play started.

They are just 3-4 in conference games and have dropped three in a row entering Saturday’s top-15 tilt with the Terps.

“I don’t know if I’d use the word ‘desperate,’ but I’d much rather play a team after they’ve won three games than after they’ve lost a few or even lost one,” Turgeon said.

The returning Terps have reason to come in hungry, too, though. In the Big Ten semifinals, Michigan State sent the Terps back to College Park with a 62-58 win.

Now with the Spartans trying to get their season back on track, Turgeon’s squad will try to capture its first win over a ranked foe.

“Even though they struggled a little bit, I know they want to bounce back,” guard Melo Trimble said. “And I think their game to bounce back will be against us. They are going to bring their best and of course we are going to bring ours.”