When Michigan State lost Kailin Lucas for the season in its win over Maryland in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, many wrote off its chances to advance.
The pundits must have forgot that this team is still led by Tom Izzo.
The surefire Hall-of-Fame coach has once again worked his magic in March. And a free throw by Raymar Morgan with under two seconds remaining gave his Spartans a second consecutive trip to the Final Four, beating the Tennessee Volunteers, 70-69.
After an intense back-and-forth affair found the game tied with just seconds left, Draymond Greene rifled a pass to Morgan underneath the basket, who then pump-faked and drew a foul. After making the first, he intentionally missed the second, and after a Tennessee timeout, a half-court attempt came up short and sent Michigan State to Indianapolis next weekend.
Durrell Summers shined again in the absence of Lucas, scoring a game-high 21 points.
The Spartans will take on the feel-good story of the tournament, the Butler Bulldogs, on Saturday.
Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 5:06 pm by Raj Sethi
Michigan State Spartans point guard Kalin Lucas tore his Achilles during the team’s win over the Maryland Terrapins.
Lucas went down late in the first half when he tried to press off his left leg to head back down to the other end of the court.
He immediately went to the ground and then was able to limp his way to the bench with help from the training staff.
He did not return to the game in the second half and eventually made it back to the bench with his warmup shirt back on.
The guard will have surgery to repair the tendon and is expected to be out the next four to six months.
Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 3:34 pm by steve
The Michigan State Spartans used a miraculous shot to get past the Maryland Terrapins, 85-83.
The Spartans looked like the better team for much of the game despite the absence of Chris Allen.
They then had to deal with the loss of Kalin Lucas for the entire second half after he tore his Achilles.
Michigan State hung in there until a few minutes remained in the game when Maryland went on a furious rally to take the lead.
It didn’t last for long, though, as the Spartans raced down court and buried a game-winning three as time expired.
at 10:38 am by steve
