When sophomore guard Marcus Taylor left Sunday’s game early in the second half, things looked bleak.
But after the final buzzer sounded, the MSU men’s basketball team recorded more than a 67-61 win over No. 14 Illinois - the team responded to adversity.
After a hard foul from Illinois forward Lucas Johnson, Taylor left the floor with more than 18 minutes to play against the Illini (15-7 overall, 4-5 Big Ten) suffering from a concussion.
Taylor’s 15.2 points per game tops MSU (13-8, 4-4), and is sixth-highest in the Big Ten.
Further testing on Taylor’s concussion is scheduled for this morning, and Taylor said that should provide more answers as to whether he plays at Northwestern (12-8, 3-5) Wednesday.
“I can’t remember too much of the game, but at the end we won,” he said. “I’ve never had anything like this before. It was a freak accident.”
Spartan head coach Tom Izzo said he was impressed with MSU’s play in the absence of its leading scorer and floor general.
“I’m not fooled that we can’t play without some key players for an expanded period of time,” Izzo said. “We played 18 minutes in the second half without Marcus, but I don’t think we can be successful if that happens on a regular basis.”
The possibility of Taylor not playing in Evanston, Ill. is one Izzo might not like, but he is making preparations.
Taking over the ball-handling duties in the absence of Taylor would be freshman guards Chris Hill and Alan Anderson.
Izzo said he had hoped to use Anderson more at power forward to defend Northwestern’s motion offense, but the injury to Taylor makes him backup at the point.
“That puts a lot of pressure on me,” Anderson said. “I play the (power forward position) and now I’m trying to play the (point).
“But I’ll do whatever I have to do to get us back into this race.”
MSU’s race for its fifth straight conference title looks grim. The Spartans are tied for fourth, with Ohio State (17-3, 8-1) leading the way.
After Northwestern, the Spartans host the Buckeyes Sunday at Breslin Center.
Izzo said it’s difficult to tell when Taylor will be available.
Originally, Izzo said Taylor didn’t suffer from headaches and doctors said that was a good sign.
But those signs faded as Taylor spent Monday suffering from headaches, but hasn’t been nauseous yet.
“I talked to the doctors and the one thing they told me was that it was so different for every guy,” Izzo said.
