The Orange Krush, the Illinois student cheering section, performs a ritual dance during Sunday’s 74-66 Spartan victory at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Ill. Despite the Orange Krush’s best efforts, MSU won, clinching them a share of the Big Ten title.
Champaign, Ill. — Junior forward Raymar Morgan’s health is still a concern, but his play on Sunday was a sign that it might not be for much longer.
Morgan played his best game in nearly six weeks against Illinois, scoring 14 points and adding six rebounds off the bench to help the Spartans defeat Illinois 74-66 at Assembly Hall.
Since the first meeting of the season between the schools on Jan. 17, Morgan has been battling walking pneumonia and a mild form of mononucleosis. The illness kept him out of three games and hampered him for several others.
But Morgan’s stamina is finally improving and consequently, so is his production.
“My wind is starting to come back, and I’m starting to feel healthy,” Morgan said. “It’s been a while since I’ve felt this good.”
Although it wasn’t indicative of his play, MSU head coach Tom Izzo said Morgan, who played 22 minutes, was fatigued for much of the game.
During the last few games, Izzo was only able to use Morgan in two-or three-minute intervals because he didn’t have the stamina to stay at peak condition for longer stretches.
But on Sunday, Izzo left Morgan on the court for longer stints and told him he would simply have to deal with his exhaustion.
Back in form
Amid a sea of radiant orange uniforms, MSU sophomore guard Kalin Lucas was the brightest person in the building Sunday.
Despite a thumb injury that he said has affected his shooting stroke, Lucas finished with a game-high 18 points and four assists for the Spartans.
“It still hurts a little bit,” Lucas said about his thumb. “But one thing I had to do was come out there tonight and grind.”
Lucas’ big game came on the heels of his worst-scoring game of the season, when he scored just four points against Iowa.
Early in the first half, he looked like he was destined for another low-scoring night. He struggled from the perimeter and even threw an air ball, a moderately easy floater.
But with a renewed focus of making plays off the dribble, he played much better down the stretch of the first half and even better in the second.
“Coach told me to attack, to try to draw fouls, and I listened to him,” said Lucas, who finished 7-of-14 from the field. “He’s a great coach and he knows what he’s talking about.”
After the game, those feelings of respect between Lucas and Izzo proved to be reciprocal.
“I thought today he showed why he is one of the better point guards in this (conference),” Izzo said. “I think he grew a lot.”
Protecting the ball
After practice Friday, several MSU players expressed the critical nature of protecting the ball.
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Playing against the top-ranked defensive team in the conference in many respects, the Spartans knew they couldn’t afford to waste possessions by making the type of careless turnovers that plagued them their previous three games, when they averaged 16.7 turnovers per contest.
That mind-set was evident Sunday, as the Spartans committed just 11 turnovers, including four in the second half.
Illinois, rather, was the team that was prone to mental miscues on offense. The Illini committed 17 turnovers, including several down the stretch that allowed MSU to pull away after Illinois had tied the game at 58.
“Some of the turnovers were careless turnovers that we usually don’t make,” Illini guard Trent Meacham said.
Senior guard Travis Walton and freshman forward Delvon Roe were particularly opportunistic, recording three steals each.
