Sports: Men's Basketball, Champions Again

MSU cagers struggled after an injury to star point guard Kalin Lucas, but recovered down the stretch to repeat as Big Ten champions.

In the pre-season, injuries sidelined four MSU starters—Raymar Morgan, Delvon Roe, Chris Allen, and Durrell Summers.  But none seemed to impact the team as much as did an ankle sprain to Junior Point Guard Kalin Lucas, last year’s Big Ten Player of the Year. Lucas not only was MSU’s leading scorer, averaging more than 15 points a game, but he also helmed the offense. After his injury, MSU lost four of six games, ending a conference lead that had looked insurmountable.

Could MSU turn things around by March, when Izzo-coached teams tend to flourish and hang banners?  The answer was affirmative.  With its back to the wall, MSU won three straight games, including a road game at No.3-ranked Purdue, to repeat as Big Ten champions (tied with Ohio State and Purdue).

Every year, notes Head Coach Tom Izzo, “there’s something goofy that happens” that triggers a final surge.

 In 2005, the smashing of a videotape spurred MSU’s run to the Final Four in St. Louis, MO.  This year, it was a sleepover.

Trying to infuse better “chemistry” and team cohesion, captains Draymond Green, Isaiah Dahlman, and Lucas persuaded Izzo to organize a sleepover at the Breslin Center.  So on Feb. 26, the entire team, including players, coaches, managers and video assistants camped out in the locker room and on the court. They bonded by playing video games, checkers, and table tennis.

“The best part of it,” says Izzo of the team-building effort, “is that it was a player-coach decision.”

It worked. Two days later, MSU traveled to West Lafayette and dismantled the league-leaders 53-44.  MSU outrebounded the Boilermakers by an eye-popping 46-20 margin.  Game analysts lauded the way players helped each other on defense.  The Spartans took advantage of the absence of Purdue star Robbie Hummel, whose season was ended by a knee injury. With the upset, MSU vaulted from third to a three-way tie for first.

First place in the league, for a while, had seemed like a lock for MSU. By early February, the Spartans were 9-0 in conference play while every other Big Ten team had at least three conference losses. But after Lucas sprained his ankle at Wisconsin, MSU suffered its first league setback, losing 67-49 to the Badgers. Three more losses in the next five games knocked the Spartans off first-place. Without the services of a fully healthy Lucas, MSU fell short at Illinois, then was hammered at home 76-64 by Purdue. After road wins against Penn State and Indiana, MSU lost at home 74-67 to Ohio State—a team that had previously struggled when its point guard, Evan Turner, was injured.

MSU ended the regular season by winning home games against the Nittany Lions and against archrival Michigan—an auspicious start in March, Izzo’s favorite time of year. 

Senior Forward Raymar Morgan became the fifth Spartan to notch 1,500 points and 700 rebounds—a phenomenal career stat.  One Boilermaker called him a “beast,” a nice colloquial accolade in college basketball.  Sophomore Forward Green emerged as a versatile playmaker and a vocal leader. Junior Guard Chris Allen was praised by Izzo for being much improved, especially on defense.  Freshman Center Derrick Nix was able to provide solid minutes patrolling the paint.  Junior Guard Durrell Summers helped with his shooting, fast-break finishing, and NBA-like athleticism.

The Spartans began the season ranked in the top five in many polls, having been an NCAA finalist last season.  But because of a variety of injuries, MSU was unable to practice with a stable starting unit and suffered non-conference losses at Florida, Texas, and North Carolina (in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge).  The Spartans did beat perennial NCAA contender Gonzaga 75-71 at home.

MSU then put together a 10-game winning streak and at times looked unbeatable.  The Spartans looked good on the road—including a 91-70 rout of Northwestern at Evanston, IL, and a 71-53 win at Iowa. Though road wins in the Big Ten tend to be difficult, MSU needed last minute heroics by Kalin Lucas to prevail at Minnesota, 65-64, and at Michigan, 57-56.  At this point, MSU truly seemed like a juggernaut.

But then came the slump, when MSU lost four of six games. During this stretch Lucas either did not play or played at less than full tilt. MSU barely lost at Illinois, 78-73, and made dramatic comebacks that fell just short at home against Purdue and Ohio State. Credit goes to Izzo and assistants Mark Montgomery, Dwayne Stephens, and Mike Garland.

Whether the Spartans could recapture the magic and match their inspiring run to last year’s NCAA title game remained to be seen.  But MSU extended its NCAA streak to 13—third best in the nation—and was awakening from its February slumber, and its slumber party, to take part in March Madness.

BEST HOOPS PROGRAM IN LAST DECADE? MICHIGAN STATE, SAYS SI.COM.

            Which is the best college basketball program over the past decade?  Sports Illustrated (SI.com) give the edge to MSU. Over that period, North Carolina boasts four Final Fours and two titles, while Florida in 2006-07 became college basketball's first repeat champion in 15 years. But sportswriter SI.com sportswriter Seth Davis argues that Michigan State deserves the top honor.  The Spartans won a championship in 2000, went to four Final Fours, and moreover, notes Davis, unlike the other two candidates, made the NCAA tournament every year in the entire decade—a remarkable achievement in an era when so many young players leave early to become pros.

WOMEN HOOPSTERS TIE FOR SECOND

Senior center Allyssa DeHaan held, for a while, the all-time NCAA record for blocks in a career with 487.

            On Feb. 18, the MSU women’s basketball team routed Illinois 64-43 at the Breslin Center to tie for second place in the Big Ten. Allyssa DeHaan, 6-9 senior center from Grandville, registered three blocks in the game to set an NCAA record of 487 career blocks.  The next week, again wearing pink uniforms to support breast cancer awareness, DeHaan added three more blocks—upping the record to 490—as the Spartans defeated league champions Ohio State 71-68 in overtime in Columbus.

            She then added six more blocks in a 79-64 win at Purdue, but the new NCAA record of 496 blocks was soon broken by Louella Tomlinson of St. Mary’s College, Moravia, CA.

            DeHaan is more interested in winning than in records, so it was fitting that her record-setting performances helped MSU surge to win 10 of its last 11 games to lock up sole possession of second place in the Big Ten at 12-6, and 21-8 overall.  It was third-year Coach Suzy Merchant’s sixth straight 20-win season as a head coach. The late win streak was fueled partly by bench productivity; against the Illini, for example, it accounted for 37 points or about 58 percent of the scoring.

            After the last regular-season game, a 70-50 win over Minnesota, MSU staged a ceremony to honor seniors DeHaan, Lauren Aitch, Aisha Jefferson, and Mandy Piechowski. A fan favorite, DeHaan has been the program’s face the past four years. Other players who contributed included Junior Kalisha Keane and Redshirt Sophomore Lykendra Johnson, each averaging over nine points a game; Junior Guard Brittney Thomas; Freshman Guard Jasmine Thomas, Sophomore Guard Porsche Poole; and Junior Forward Cetera Washington.  Sophomore Forward Courtney Schiffauer was leading MSU in scoring (16.5 points a game) before a season-ending injury.

            MSU ended the Big Ten regular season leading in conference games in scoring defense (57.5), field goal percentage defense (35.1 percent, a new Big Ten record), 3-point field goal percentage defense (27.7 percent) and blocks (5.78). MSU led the league for the third time in field goal percentage defense and for the third time in four years in 3-point field goal percentage defense. It is the fifth time that MSU has led in blocks, including three of the last four seasons.

            The future looks bright.  MSU signed four of the five finalists for Miss Basketball, two of them are state champions and the other two are state runner-ups.  They are Klarissa Bell of East Lansing, Ariel Braker of Grosse Pointe North, Annalise Pickrel of Grand Rapids Catholic Central, and Madison Williams of Detroit Country Day.