No Sophomore Slump

The Michigan State basketball team has put last week’s loss to Northwestern far behind them thanks in part to the fabulous play of two of their sophomore guards. Point guard Kalin Lucas continued his solid play tonight against Iowa with 24 points, scoring at least twenty points in his last three games. 

 

Additionally, sophomore guard Durrell Summers proved once again that he deserves to be in the starting lineup, contributing with 21 points, including 14 in the first half. Summers was also a spark that the Spartans needed to overcome a second half comeback.

 

The Spartans took a 13 point lead into the break, and led by as many 22 before closing out a 71-56 final score. The Hawkeyes tried to make a comeback in the second half, cutting the lead to as little as 9, but the Spartan defense proved to be too strong as Travis Walton and Summers teamed up to force a turnover which led to a Summers lay-up, drawing a foul on the play.  

 

Izzo also received another strong performance from senior center Goran Suton, who scored only 6 points, but grabbed 11 boards and dished 3 assists. The Spartans are now 11-1 since Suton’s return from an early season injury.

 

Ailing Raymar Morgan was once again a non-factor for the Spartans, recording only 2 points in 8 minutes of play. However, his inside presence was replaced by freshman Delvon Roe who, despite only scoring 1 point, grabbed 10 rebounds.

 

The Spartans are now 5-0 on the road in the Big Ten, 7-1 overall in the conference, and 17-3 on the season. The team will now return to East Lansing for three straight home games beginning with Penn State on Sunday.

 

Sunday’s game will be the ninth game of the Big Ten season, marking the midway point. The Spartans are currently sitting in first place in the conference- a game ahead of both Illinois, and Purdue. With a series of home games on the docket, the Spartans could put themselves in a very good position heading into the final stretch of the conference schedule, which includes a game at Illinois, and two games against Purdue-the second being the last game of the year at the Breslin Center.