The ball soars through the air, begins its descent just in time and slowly caresses the strings as it swims through the net.

Swoosh.

Lucas, MSU’s soft-spoken starting point guard, has been hearing that sound a lot lately.

That’s because after every practice, he doesn’t leave the gym until he’s successfully run through the following gauntlet: 100 made 3-pointers, 60 made pull-up jumpers, 35-40 made free throws.

“My play wasn’t good at the beginning of the season, and I was in a shooting slump,” said Lucas, a slippery 6-foot guard with blazing speed and deceptive strength.

“When some guys get into a shooting slump, they might drag or might hang their head, but I just kept working and getting in the gym more because I had to get out of that shooting slump.”

The work has been paying off for Lucas. The sophomore is shooting 41.2 percent from 3-point range, a 4.8 percent improvement from last season.

Although he’s cooled off since the first three games of conference play, when he went a combined 6-of-10 from long range, he’s taken what many considered his biggest flaw and transformed it into one of his greatest strengths.

“He’s really worked hard at it,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “He’s a much more confident shooter, which means now he’s more dangerous, because if you play him for the shot, he’ll take you to the hole.”

Lucas’ penchant for getting to the rim as a freshman is what thrust him into the national limelight and made him one of the most highly extolled players in the Big Ten during the offseason.

He parlayed an impressive freshman season into preseason second-team All-Big Ten honors from Athlon and Lindy’s College Basketball preview magazines and preseason second-team All-American honors from Sporting News.

Despite the accolades, the Sterling Heights native still felt he had critics to silence, and a game that needed improvement. Determined to do just that, Lucas dedicated his offseason to diversifying his game.

“A lot of people really doubted me, saying that I really couldn’t shoot the three-ball, that I was more of just a penetrator,” he said. “So that’s one thing I did try to do in the offseason, is work on my pull-up game and work on my three-ball.”

Since adding the jumper to his imposing arsenal, Lucas has become virtually impossible to defend. If you guard him too closely, he’ll burn by you with his blinding quickness. If you give him too much space, he’ll bury a jumper in your face.

“He’s the quickest guy I’ve ever played with, as far as going from one end of the floor to the other,” senior forward Marquise Gray said. “If you run, he’s gonna get you the ball, and he can do a lot of things offensively.”

?An ominous beginning

Despite projections that he would be one of college basketball’s breakout players this season, Lucas looked more like he was breaking down.

With lofty expectations weighing on his slender shoulders, he averaged just 10.8 points on 29.3 percent shooting through the first seven contests of the season. Even worse, he floundered during the biggest of games.

Against North Carolina and Maryland, which handed MSU its only nonconference losses, Lucas scored a total of just 12 points on a combined 5-for-21 shooting. After the North Carolina loss, he realized he needed to step up on offense.

“I started doing (the post-practice shooting ritual) when we lost to North Carolina,” he said. “It was a big loss for us, especially for me, because we were playing at Ford Field and we got embarrassed.”

Since establishing himself as a more aggressive scorer, Lucas has elevated his play to uncharted heights.

He’s boosted his scoring average from 11.5 during the nonconference schedule to a team-leading 17.7 points in Big Ten play, and is shooting much better from the field.

His impressive play spurred the Spartans to their best start in conference play since the 1977-78 season, and also earning him a pair of distinguished honors.

After averaging 21 points per game the second week of the conference season, Lucas was named Big Ten Player of the Week by the conference, and National Player of the Week by ESPN’s Andy Katz.

“When Michigan State was struggling earlier in the season … Spartans coach Tom Izzo said if he needed a basket, he would look to Kalin Lucas,” Katz wrote. “He said Lucas would be the go-to player for the Spartans. Well, it took a while, but Izzo is proving to be prophetic.”

 

Still a facilitator

Although his assists per game are down since the conclusion of nonconference play, Lucas’ teammates have no gripes about his new, aggressive scoring mentality.

In fact, some say his new approach has made them more efficient.

“He draws so much attention to himself that I’m going to be wide open sometimes,” sophomore guard Chris Allen said. “If I start knocking down shots, they’re going to overplay me, so when he drives he’s going to have more of a lane to do more things. Then when he starts going, it’s going to come right back to me.”

Despite his new approach, Lucas said his top priority for every game is still to get his teammates involved. He leads the Spartans in assists with 5.2 per game, and takes enormous pride in watching his teammates light up the scoreboard.

“He’ll kick it out, he’ll shoot it well, he does all the things well,” senior center Goran Suton said. “His decision making has really improved a lot, so I think he’s got all the intangibles.”

 

Best is yet to come

Despite his manifest improvement from the beginning of the season, Lucas knows he hasn’t even scratched the surface of his potential.

That potential, many say, is similar to the potential NBA superstar Chris Paul had. Coming out of Wake Forest Paul was lauded for his quickness, court vision and savvy.

Izzo is among those who sees similarities between Lucas and Paul, but knows Lucas has a long way to go before reaching Paul’s star status.

“I compared him to a ‘poor man’s Chris Paul,’” Izzo said, “If he wants to be a man’s man, then he’s got to keep improving, but he has some of those qualities.”

Lucas said the comparisons to Paul — who also stands at 6 feet tall — are flattering, but hasn’t let them get to his head.

“I do watch a lot of film on Chris Paul and I do try to base my game a little bit after him,” he said. “But he’s one of the best players in the NBA.”

Lucas might be premature for NBA stardom, but his progress as a college point guard has been in leaps and bounds.

Despite his vast improvement, junior Raymar Morgan said Lucas’ best is yet to come.

“I think everyone knew what Kalin could do, it’s just now he’s showing the world,” he said. “He’s a great leader, he’s a great point guard, and if he keeps doing this, there’s no telling where he’ll be.”