Cool hand Lucas
By: Chris Vannini
Josh Radtke / The State News
Junior guard Kalin Lucas celebrates with his teammates after the Spartans defeated Michigan, 57-56, Tuesday night at Crisier Arena in Ann Arbor.
Ann Arbor — For the second straight game, junior guard Kalin Lucas demanded the ball in the final seconds.
For the second straight game, Lucas delivered.
Lucas nailed a mid-range jumper with 3.5 seconds remaining and a last-ditch layup by Michigan forward DeShawn Sims rimmed out Tuesday as the Spartans defeated rival U-M, 57-56, at Crisler Arena.
“If anybody ever wonders why I expect a lot of him, it shouldn’t take you long to figure out why,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “I just fall in love with guys that want to coach the team in a positive way.”
Lucas scored five of the final seven MSU points. His final shot and the subsequent Spartans victory moved MSU to 8-0 in the Big Ten for the first time in school history.
“You know I love footprints, even though mine isn’t really big,” Izzo said. “It’s just something for somebody else to break someday, but I think each team has to have something that (they) leave behind, and maybe this will be this team’s. I hope there’s bigger things than that.”
Senior forward Raymar Morgan paced the Spartans with 20 points and added eight rebounds. Junior guard Durrell Summers recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore forward Draymond Green pitched in 10 points.
With about half a minute left, Sims airballed a wide-open 3-point shot, which the Spartans rebounded, quickly calling timeout.
On the ensuing possession, as the Spartans trailed by one, Lucas was tripped, accidentally kicked in the face and fell to the floor. The Spartans were not in the bonus and Izzo urged Lucas to get up so he would not have to come out of the game.
“When I first got up, I was a little dizzy because I got kicked in the head, but I’m alright now,” Lucas said. “It still hurts a little bit but I’m not even thinking about it. I’m just happy we got the win.”
Lucas got up and hit the late mid-range jumper to give MSU the final lead. U-M, which was not in the bonus, hurried the ball up the court and Green alertly fouled Sims with 1.5 seconds remaining.
On the final inbound pass, U-M guard Stu Douglass threw a perfect pass to Sims, who was cutting to the basket. Sims caught the ball in the air and put up a layup, which bounced out.
U-M junior guard Manny Harris did not start the game after being suspended for the previous game due to an altercation in practice.
He entered the game with 16:49 to play in the first half.
“It wasn’t a further penalty. It wasn’t anything,” U-M head coach John Beilein said. “In the Purdue game, when we started out strong, all of a sudden we went to the bench and (we went down). I thought this was a great opportunity.”
The Spartans have now won 17 of the last 20 meeting between the two teams.
“It was sure was a beautiful win for us,” Izzo said.
01/26/10 @ 10:23pm
Thank goodness for Kalin Lucas! We definitely caught a break at the end, in that they missed their pretty open lay-up…but whatever, I’ll take it!
GO GREEN!
01/26/10 @ 11:04pm
Cut down the turnovers and the game would be much easier for us to win!
01/27/10 @ 12:23am
SOMEONE GET ME A DOCTOR!!!
01/27/10 @ 1:16am
Good stuff, Chris.
01/27/10 @ 1:43am
I’m going to be honest, I was pretty upset when I saw Kalin get round house kicked at the end.
01/27/10 @ 8:16am
So much for the “maize rage” Go Green!
01/27/10 @ 9:06am
We might have cringed when Lucas got kicked, but did anyone think it was hilarious when he elbowed Lucas-Perry in the chops…not a rhetorical question, I was laughing uncontrollably. The shot by Lucas will be remembered for a long time by the Spartans…it reminded me a lot of the shot MoPete made against Indiana (although that game was at home) in that we fought hard, played with heart, and followed our best player. Another similarity is that team was lead by a great point guard and a stone-cold-killer forward…Kalin and Raymar are those guys for this team…this team is special…they might not be dominating, but ball don’t lie, and 8-0 is 8-0…something no other Spartan can claim to ever do. Congrats Spartans!
01/27/10 @ 9:34am
I haven’t forgotten about Izzo’s statement for the new logo.
01/27/10 @ 9:56am
I always love to hear the cheers of GO GREEN GO WHITE in Chrisler! As I watched on TV it was such a treat to again hear MSU fans cheering on their team. Great victory to a team that continues to make us so proud. Thanks to the team, Izzo and a great athletic department. I have never seen MSU athletics as a whole as strong as it is right now.
01/27/10 @ 12:31pm
Ho, Ho. What a crock! Did anyone see the last play or what? I didn’t know you could grab someone’s shirt to prevent a good shot! Good work again Spartans (NOT). Cheap now, but wait until the tournament – don’t imagine when playing away from the Big 10 conference you’ll get away with this type of play – oh well there are real teams out there thank God.
01/27/10 @ 12:36pm
You’re right, Juanita, our team didn’t really do much good work last night. Yet they still won. Hmm…guess that says a lot about the state of Michigan bball.
01/27/10 @ 12:55pm
Ohhh Juanita, did you happen to notice all the ‘no-calls’ every time State went to the basket? They were being pushed, pulled, kicked, and not one ref said anything. If fouls were called like they should be State would have won by 20 points because unlike UM, MSU has a bench. I thought the last no-call was due.
01/27/10 @ 12:58pm
Seems both teams can be happy —- obviously State for getting the W! UM can be happy as well, they played a close game against a high ranked team, maybe that will help them to get back to the NCAA tourney.
01/27/10 @ 1:10pm
It’s funny seeing all the UM fan’s blaming the loss on the questionable no-call at the end.
If you watched basketball on a regular basis instead of once or twice a year you would realize the entire game was full of no-calls.
At least Juanita gets to watch us play in the NCAA tournament against non-big10 teams (unlike UM and their coming NIT bid). Hooray Juanita.
01/27/10 @ 2:51pm
I’m sorry Juanita, did you just say that MSU is not a “real team”? How fitting that you are a Michigan fan, they never could handle a loss with class…
01/27/10 @ 3:19pm
Junita is one of the few people I’ve heard complaining about the no call.
In another conference or maybe in high school, that foul may have been called. But this is the Big 10. And Michigan State knows how to play Big 10 basketball… we also have shown that we know how to play in the tourney :P
01/27/10 @ 5:20pm
Glad for the W, but we’re clearly losing steam. We’re gonna take a loss sometime in the next 3 games, re-focus, then finish strong at the head of the big 10 for a 2nd year. Can’t make any conference tourny predictions just yet.
01/27/10 @ 11:57pm
I want to see far more discipline from our guys. Why do we have to have butter fingers and blow the free throws. I love the W but would like to see it done with more class, you know?
01/28/10 @ 8:00am
I agree with Facebook User. We absolutely need to handle the ball better, and free throws are a must.
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