MSU head coach Tom Izzo was pleased after the team’s wins against Northwestern and Wisconsin because it showed the Spartans can win in various of ways. They went up against a half-court, back-door offense in the Wildcats and ran them out of the gym. Then they handled a Wisconsin team that figures to play a key role in the Big Ten race by out-slugging them in a typical ugly Big Ten game.

But with Lucas’ presence fading in and out and Summers laying eggs lately, the Spartans are showing they can win in another way: without two of their most valuable players.

“It’s good, but I think we need Kalin every night and we need Durrell most nights,” Izzo said. “It speaks volumes that we have other guys that stepped up … but I don’t want a steady diet of it.”

You can count on Lucas for double-digits every night. Even in a game like the Wisconsin battle, in which Izzo said the junior guard was getting “bounced around like a pinball” by Wisconsin’s Trevon Hughes, Lucas will have the ball in his hands at crunch time and is pretty much a lock at the free-throw line. But as he and Izzo settled their differences that led to Lucas sitting out a practice and not starting against Texas-Arlington, the co-captain and preseason Big Ten Player of the Year has been prone to sloppy turnovers and wild shot selection in his trademark drives through the lane.

Summers is another inconsistent story. Last season, he would go on hot streaks that made him look like the best wingman to come through here since Mo Pete. For much of the early season, it was more consistent. But for some reason, Summers hit a lull. He was reportedly having some personal problems toward the end of the nonconference schedule that he spoke to Izzo about at length.

But he averaged 4.3 points per game through a stretch of four games in December and didn’t score against Wisconsin and registered only three points against Iowa. That’s three points in 51 minutes of combined time in the two games.

Summers wore a shoulder wrap on his left shoulder Saturday against the Hawkeyes and Izzo said at practice Thursday that Summers may have tweaked it in Wednesday’s pre-game. Izzo said it was nothing serious, and that it didn’t hamper Summers’ play against the Badgers.

But the important thing is Summers’ absence didn’t hamper the Spartans’ chance at a win against the Badgers.

Izzo loves the fact that when MSU plays in March, they’ll be able to rely on experience of winning as a run-and-gun, half-court or grind-it-out style of team. He also should love the fact that his team has the depth and personnel to win tough games without the consistent play of two of its best players.

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