The Spartans lost that game, as the Big Ten community also was introduced to the Baby Boilers, Purdue’s uber-talented class of now-juniors who combined for 39 of the Boilermakers’ 60 points.

But that night, then-freshman Lucas effectively commandeered the backcourt scoring role from then-senior Drew Neitzel with a then-career-high 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting.

That night, a ruthless, lightning-quick, shot-blockers-be-damned slashing point guard was born. His fearless drives to the lane have become a trademark of the MSU men’s basketball program along with the kissing of the ‘S’ on center court and the War Drill.

So when the Spartans return to Boiler country Sunday for a game to essentially determine MSU’s share — if any — of the conference title, the package that made Lucas last season’s Big Ten Player of the Year needs to be delivered.

“I have to bring it at all times,” Lucas said. “The first half of (the Ohio State loss), there were some times where I didn’t bring it like that and when the head dies, the team dies.”

Lucas shouldered the blame for Sunday’s loss against Ohio State, the second straight home contest in which the Spartans were dismantled for an extended portion of the game.

I’m not sure the loss to the Buckeyes was entirely Lucas’ fault.

The Spartans were outrebounded, surrendered a 19-2 run and shot 11-for-28 in the first half.

But if what Lucas and head coach Tom Izzo agreed on — the game plan was to run the short-handed Buckeyes out of the gym and Lucas simply didn’t execute any type of fast break — then the junior guard may be justified in claiming responsibility.

Lucas has a prime opportunity to regain the confidence of his coach, the MSU fan base and his teammates all while serving notice to the rest of the conference that the Spartans remain a force to be reckoned with.

Simply put, if Lucas comes to play, the Spartans have an excellent chance of winning Sunday, thus taking a major step toward a portion of the Big Ten championship.

Whether it’s true Lucas’ ankle is as healthy as he says it is, his conditioning is as deficient as Izzo says it is or the game plan miscommunication was just that, there’s one thing Izzo and Lucas concurred on that rings true: This is Lucas’ team. He’s an upperclassman co-captain, the team’s quarterback, most lethal and consistent scorer and the conductor of the Spartans’ offense. He will control the pace in the hostile Mackey Arena environment.

He can limit crucial turnovers, find teammates and the ball will be in his hands during crunch time of what should be a dogfight.

“He is going to have to control the pace and I hope it’s at a high speed — not like what we’ve been doing. I don’t want it slow motion,” Izzo said.

“But then again, if you’re going to go high speed, you have to make very important decisions on when to continue and when to pull it out and run some stuff. I think he’ll do well in that. He’s been in those games.”

As Lucas goes, so go the Spartans.

And unless the Spartans want to be going home empty-handed Sunday night, that two-year-old Mackey Arena performance will need a fitting encore.

Joey Nowak is a State News men’s basketball reporter. He can be reached at nowakjo2@msu.edu.