The Michigan State Spartans were dominated from start to almost finish.
Almost.
Kailin Lucas came to the rescue late, and his 3-pointer with just over a minute remaining gave the Spartans their first lead of the game and one they would not relinquish in a 65-64 win over the host Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Lucas, who was challenged by head coach Tom Izzo to take over the game when Michigan State was struggling to hang with its opponent in the second half, finished with 22 points. He bailed out the Spartans, who looked uninspired and were simply outplayed and outworked throughout the game. But even a double-digit lead wasn’t enough for the Golden Gophers to hang on, and the Spartans maintained its 2-game lead in the Big 10.
Raymar Morgan added 17 points in the victory for Michigan State.
Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 6:16 pm by Raj Sethi
The host No. 9 Michigan State Spartans grinded out a 70-63 victory over the hapless Iowa Hawkeyes.
Michigan State got off to another fast start and took a 12-point lead into halftime, but yet again failed to put the game away.
Iowa outscored the Spartans by five in the second half, and the game certainly got tense for a few moments.
Michigan State seems relax far too often and take their foot off the gas. They can get away with that against Iowa, but not against good basketball teams.
Raymar Morgan led the Spartans with 16 points. Durrell Summers added 12 points and Kalin Lucas had 11.
Friday, January 22, 2010 at 6:02 pm by steve
The No. 7 Michigan State Spartans protected their home floor in a 60-53 victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
It was a typical Big Ten slugfest, and the Spartans looked sluggish in nearly every phase of the game.
They led by eight at halftime, but allowed Minnesota to hang around and have a chance in the second half.
Kalin Lucas led the Spartans with 14 points while Darrell Summers added 13. No other Spartan finished in double-digits.
Michigan State can get buy some of the mediocre Big Ten schools just by playing defense, but their offense is going to have to become more explosive at some point.
Friday, January 15, 2010 at 4:56 pm by steve
