Lucas finds touch at perfect time for Spartans
In the week following a 6-for-17 shooting performance against Minnesota in the Big Ten quarterfinals, Kalin Lucas worked arduously on his technique with Michigan State assistant coach Mike Garland in individual sessions.
Garland instructed the Spartans point guard to release his shot with a deeper knee bend, instead of popping straight up. The advice worked, as Lucas finished with 25 points on 7-of-11 shooting in Michigan State's 70-67 opening-round win over New Mexico State.
"When he does that he's a very good shooter," Garland said. "He just kind of got away from that and was swinging his hips."
Lucas hit two 3-pointers in the first half in helping the Spartans race out to a 42-29 halftime lead and continued his hot shooting to stave off an Aggies comeback. With Michigan State leading 48-45 and just less than 15 minutes left, Lucas drained a jumper from the top of the key. Less than five minutes later, he connected on a 3-pointer from the right elbow to break a 55-all tie. Lucas said he focused on not "twisting his body" on his jump shots.
"That's something that coach [Garland] tells me -- don't twist on my jump shots," Lucas said. "So when I was shooting the ball, one thing I tried to do was just stay straight up on my jump shot. I was making baskets and it felt good."
Even more impressively, he led his team in the final minutes despite suffering an ankle injury with just less than six minutes left when he stepped on the foot of New Mexico State forward Troy Gillenwater. Lucas left the game briefly, but returned less than a minute later.
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"Kalin was dynamite," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "They just kept trying to wear him down. That's the point guard that I recruited and that's the point guard that's been here for a couple years."
While Lucas struggled with his shot in the previous five games before Friday's victory (going 18 of 55 from the floor), his shooting percentage is up this season. He had hit on only 41 percent of his shots from the field entering this season and had problems with shooting off the catch. This year, Lucas has concentrated more on getting his feet set and his shooting percentage has exceeded 45 percent.
He has also come through in clutch situations. Against Michigan on Jan. 26, Lucas hit a jumper with 3.5 seconds left to lift the Spartans to a 57-56 victory. Earlier that week, the junior drained a 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining to break a 62-all tie. Michigan State went on to defeat the Golden Gophers 65-64.
No last-second heroics were needed from Lucas on Friday. The Aggies had two chances to tie the score on the final possession, but could not hit on two chances from beyond the arc.
First, guard Jonathan Gibson missed on a fade-away from the top of the key, before Hernst Laroche's desperation attempt from the right corner fell short. Izzo credited Spartans guard Mike Kebler for placing a hand in Laroche's face without committing a foul.
Moments before, Gillenwater was whistled for a lane violation with 18 seconds on a missed free throw by Raymar Morgan. The Spartans senior hit the ensuing foul shot for a 70-67 lead. Gillenwater said he lost his balance during the sequence.
"It's just one of those calls that you wish would have went [your way]," New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies said. "Whether it happened or not, I don't even know. I know we would have had something else designed that would have been able to get us to the free-throw line at the very least, because we had some success penetrating the ball.
Izzo, meanwhile, believes his team is finally coming together after a 5-5 record to close the season. He praised his team for its unselfishness in dishing out 12 assists on 13 made baskets in the first half. Later, he called the half the best his players had this season.
The Spartans advance to Sunday's second round against Maryland. In 2003, Michigan State defeated the defending national champion Terrapins in the Sweet 16.
"If there's one word I've learned in the years that I've been in this tournament, the word is survive," Izzo said. "As far as the things I was looking for out of this team, we're going to move forward and try to maintain that togetherness that I've been searching for all year."
His team survived a chippy affair marked by physical play and constant trash talking. Lucas, who said his ankle felt fine in the postgame press conference, enacted a measure of revenge against New Mexico State guard Jahmar Young. Earlier in the week, the Aggies guard did not even know the name of his counterpart.
Lucas smiled when asked if Aggies players will remember his name now.
"Most definitely," he said.
