Spartans once again escape with victory

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It finally caught up with them.

The No. 6 men’s basketball team had been playing with fire throughout conference play, turning on its game whenever the it felt like it. Down double digits in the second half in a hostile environment on the road, the Spartans were at the mercy of the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

But then they did it again.

MSU was able to clamp down on defense, flip the switch on its offense in the final 10 minutes and escape Minneapolis with a 65-64 victory.

The Spartans allowed four Minnesota points in the final six minutes and only led for the final 1:27.

But low and behold, the team that head coach Tom Izzo said didn’t have a sense of urgency found one.

Although this was a game in which the Spartans played terrible and didn’t deserve to win, it was a win that verified why the team had so much preseason hype.

I’m not saying this is the No. 2 team in the country, but it is a top-10 team and should be considered a strong contender to return to the Final Four.

A loss Saturday would have been a terrible start to a stretch of games that includes six of eight on the road.

But if the Spartans can play as bad as they did for 30-plus minutes and still pull off a huge conference road victory, can you imagine how good this team can be if they put it all together?

For the past few weeks, Izzo has been telling the media not to drink the green Kool-Aid. Although the team is as good as it’s ever been statistically, Izzo had yet to see the intangibles and consistency from his team to believe the Spartans were a national contender.

And that’s exactly why this team should be feared more than ever. This is the No. 6 team in the country and clearly the best in the Big Ten — and Izzo knows his team should be better.

The leadership of the Spartans had been questioned by Izzo, and Saturday may have been a turning point.

Who else to lead to the late victorious charge than senior forward Raymar Morgan and junior guard Kalin Lucas — the team’s elected captains.

Lucas, leading the way with 22 points, hit a 3-point shot with 1:27 to play to give the Spartans the lead.

But no one should forget that Morgan was able to play the final 17 minutes with four fouls, scoring 10 points in that time.

In a game where sophomore forward Draymond Green was held in check on the offensive side, the two players whom the rest of the team voted as its leaders stepped up and showed why they were selected.

Morgan has averaged more than 15 points per game in the past three games, and there is no better time for him to be finding his groove than now.

The physical abilities of Morgan and Lucas make them two of the hardest players in conference to defend. If Morgan and Lucas can consistently play their games, they have the ability to help MSU put up some more banners in the rafters of Breslin Center.

Chris Vannini is the State News men’s basketball reporter. He can be reached at vanninic@msu.edu.

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