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Spartans upset No. 5 Texas

December 20, 2008

Sophomore guard Durrell Summers hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 18.6 seconds left as the No. 19 MSU men’s basketball team beat No. 5 Texas 67-63 on Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston.

The Spartans came out of two consecutive timeouts with Texas up 63-62 with 24 seconds remaining.

Junior forward Raymar Morgan took the inbound pass and swung the ball to Summers on the wing for the trey, which he sank.

Summers had 14 points and four rebounds for MSU, while senior center Goran Suton had 18 points in his second game back after missing six games due to a knee injury.

Sophomore guard Kalin Lucas added 11 points and dished out four assists.

Senior guard Travis Walton held Texas guard A.J. Abrams to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting as the Spartans and Longhorns battled on defense and in the paint throughout the game.

After scoring the game’s first basket nearly three minutes in, the Spartans didn’t lead again until they took the lead 28-27 on a jumper by Walton with 3:10 remaining in the first half.

MSU was down two at halftime, and a dunk by Summers with 8:39 left tied the game at 51.

Texas continued to keep the Spartans at bay, but a Lucas jumper with about three minutes left gave MSU a 62-61 lead.

The Longhorns’ Gary Johnson, who scored a game-high 20 points, made a lay-up about a minute later and the Spartans grabbed a defensive rebound on the next possession to set up Summers’ three-pointer.

With their win over Texas (9-2), the Spartans improve to 8-2 overall heading into Christmas.

MSU next takes the hardwood against Oakland at 5 p.m. on Dec. 27 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

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