Cool hand Lucas: Spartans guard's clutch play puts Michigan State in Elite Eight

Saturday, March 28, 2009
Bob Wojnowski : Detroit News

Cool hand Lucas: Spartans guard's clutch play puts Michigan State in Elite Eight

INDIANAPOLIS -- The run is alive, just barely, just by the skin of Michigan State's tough grizzled chin. The Spartans were tested in every way Friday night, down to the final rattling minute, and when they needed the biggest plays of their season, Kalin Lucas delivered them.

Michigan State's 67-62 victory over Kansas in the Midwest Regional was a testament to perseverance, because this looked for the longest time like a game the Jayhawks planned to swipe. Kansas' two-star tandem of Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich was relentless, but in the end, the Spartans had a few more bodies.

If you're looking for omens, how about this? Lucas hit the big shots to win it right here in Lucas Oil Stadium.

Lucas is the oil in the Spartans' attack, although he got plenty of help from Goran Suton. The Spartans sputtered early, and trailed by 13 against the defending national champs. But Lucas' three-point play with 48.1 seconds left capped the comeback and put them on top 63-60. He created space on his own, drove to the basket and drew a foul on Collins. After that, Lucas hit five straight free throws to seal it.

The Spartans aren't doing anything easily now, but hey, it's the Sweet 16, and it's not supposed to be easy. Speaking of that, top-seeded Louisville is next on Sunday at 2:20 p.m., and if the Cardinals' 103-64 pasting of Arizona is a clue, that will be a huge challenge, the final step before a possible trip to the Final Four in Detroit.

This was just like Michigan State's tense five-point victory over USC last Sunday, and it sent the Spartans to their sixth Elite Eight in 11 years. And trust me, they'll be significant underdogs against the deep, athletic Cardinals, not that it bothers them.

The Spartans don't have the offense to stomp these opponents, but boy, when they need defense and clutch plays, they know where to look. They trailed 60-55 with 3:22 left, but grabbed six straight rebounds and scored eight straight points, as stirring a finish as you could script. Lucas stole the ball from Collins right before his basket that broke a 60-60 tie.

You'd call it unusual if you hadn't seen this before from the Spartans. Tom Izzo's team is compensating for shaky offense with sweaty scrapping.

"Kansas is a very, very good team," Izzo said. "But I'm really proud of the way our guys fought back when they could have died a few times."

Slipping away

Down big in the first half, the Spartans had to be seeing everything flashing before their eyes, including the long-dreamed trip to Ford Field. Various Jayhawks kept flashing before their eyes too, and it usually was Collins.

Michigan State's nerves seemed rattled, especially those of Raymar Morgan, who missed his first five shots, then recovered to collect a game-tying dunk with 1:51 left. Clutch, finally. And if you inspect the numbers, Michigan State's tandem of Suton (20 points) and Lucas (18) ultimately out-dueled Collins (20) and Aldrich (17).

"The type of person Kalin is, when he plays against another big-time guard, he kind of wants to prove himself to the nation," guard Travis Walton said. "I think he took it personal. At the end, he wanted the ball in his hands."

That was what the Spartans needed to see -- someone taking the ball and commanding the offense. For much of this game, they pounded back the best way they know how, with defense. Freshman Draymond Green continued his climb from unheralded to unfazed, one of the big bodies the Spartans kept tossing out there.

Built to outlast

This was a battle of attrition, to see if the Spartans' deep, physical roster could wear down Kansas' twosome, and the tension was obvious. At one point, Collins and Green bumped bodies and jawed, before officials jumped in.

Finally, after a multitude of Sweet 16 blowouts, this was a terrific slugfest between storied programs, and it was nothing like Michigan State's 75-62 hammering of Kansas in East Lansing on Jan. 10. Izzo and the Spartans had downplayed the significance of the rematch, but make no mistake, the Jayhawks wore that first-meeting beating like a bruise.

No one took it more personally than the tough junior guard Collins. He'd been harassed into eight turnovers back in January, although he did manage 25 points, most when the outcome was decided. This time, he went right at Michigan State, right from the start.

This was real danger for the Spartans, who seemed tense on the raised floor in the big football stadium. College basketball is a game of runs, and if anything was ridiculously apparent in the Sweet 16, it's that runs are hard to stop. My goodness, Louisville's 39-point stomping of Arizona here was a clinic in athletes unleashed.

Stilted start a surprise

The Spartans were the last Big Ten team standing, and in the first half, that was the problem -- they were just standing. With Collins' quickness and Michigan State's turnovers, the Jayhawks kept beating the Spartans down the floor. No, they're not a prototypical plodding Big Ten team, so it was odd to see.

Aldrich helped give Kansas a surprising edge in rebounds, sneering at Michigan State's strength. But the Spartans sneered back, and sent their Gang Green after him, including the suddenly effective Green. And when Gang Green sets in, you know what happens. Theoretically, limbs are rendered useless, although it took a while for Aldrich and Collins to finally wilt.

"Kansas played a great game, they were digging and we were digging," Walton said. "I think at the end, us pressuring them and running bodies at them kind of tired them out."

This was classic Michigan State basketball under Izzo, beautiful in its brutishness, and at the end, in its brashness. That was true poise down the stretch, from Lucas and Suton and others. The Spartans showed their best in the desperate waning seconds, just in time to continue a run that somehow keeps churning.