Freshmen Help Lift Slow-Moving Spartans Past Hawkeyes
Submitted by Paul Mercier on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 18:13
With four games left on the bill, the Spartans needed a win against Big Ten bottom dweller Iowa on Wednesday night. They got that win; but, it wasn’t pretty. The game resembled a pretty typical Big Ten game these days: it was relatively slow moving, a lot of fouls were called, players were bumping, players were firing three’s, and the Spartans dominated their opponent on the boards.
Michigan State, however, did get some much needed love from some of their freshmen that helped them overcome an offensive strategy that, at times, seemed lethargic. Delvon Roe scored a career high 16 points in the victory, while also nabbing 3 boards in the process. At times, Roe seemed almost unstoppable in the paint: it seemed like every time he touched the ball down low he was either scoring, or getting fouled on the way to the hoop-Roe made 4 of 6 free throws by the way, a welcomed improvement for the Spartans.
Also contributing in a big way was freshman Korie Lucious. I was very happy to see Lucious come into the game, knock down some big three’s, and only commit one turnover in his 15 minutes of floor time. In the past, I have been pretty hard on the freshman who seems to have a ton of skill, but sometimes shows his youth on the court. On Wednesday, he looked like a true role player, stepping in beautifully to pick up a stagnate offense.
The Spartans were also able to get a solid 15 minutes out of freshman Draymond Green, who pulled down 5 boards and added 4 points.
The horse race will continue on Sunday as the Spartans travel to Illinois to play in what will certainly be a hostile environment. If the Spartans are able to pull out a road victory, they will officially knock Illinois out of contention, and more importantly, they would only need one more win to lock up at least a share of the big Ten Title.
