MSU Hangs on to Win Outright Championship

There are no guaranteed victories in college basketball, and the Spartans almost found that out the hard way tonight as they traveled to Bloomington, Indiana for their final road game of the 2008-2009 Big Ten Campaign. The Spartans had to overcome a second-half charge by an inspired Hoosier team before finally pulling away with the 64-59 victory.

 

The boys in green never trailed during the 40 minute battle, and at one point led by as many as 11 points. Indiana however, sparked by a technical foul on Coach Tom Izzo, held the Spartans to zero field goals for nearly 8 ½ minutes before Raymar Morgan ended the drought with a punishing dunk off of a Durell Summers 3-point miss.

 

Izzo picked up the technical during a timeout in which an official walked across the court and into the Michigan State huddle. It was during this conversation that a heated Izzo apparently said something the official didn’t like.

 

Kalin Lucas once again led the charge for the Spartans, who are now 24-5 on the season, scoring 15 points on 4 of 10 from the floor, while also dishing 5 assists. But the big story of the night was the continued strong play of the now-healthy junior forward Raymar Morgan: Morgan scored 14 points (including the emphatic dunk with 25.7 sec. left) on 6 of 6 from the floor, while also hauling in 7 boards.

 

Despite only scoring 8 points in the final 9 minutes of the game, the Spartans were still able to shoot 51% from the floor. Indiana shot 46.5% Indiana did play an inspired game, at times giving MSU fits with their zone defense. MSU, however, was able to out muscle the Hoosiers in the paint to get out to an early lead that was big enough to withstand Indiana’s second half push.

 

The Spartans will now look to put the icing on the cake as they take on second-place Purdue at home on Sunday. A win on Sunday would surely solidify what has been a solid championship season for the Spartans.