Westbrook drove to the basket, with Allen guarding him step-for-step, and forced up an awkward shot that fell short, allowing the Spartans to escape Williams Arena with a 65-64 come-from-behind victory.

Guarding the opponent’s best player on the final possession was a position Allen never thought he’d find himself in, especially considering how often MSU head coach Tom Izzo publicly challenged Allen’s defense during his first two seasons.

When comparing Allen’s defense this season to last, Izzo said Allen wouldn’t have been able to find a student on campus if that was his defensive assignment. This season, the Lawrenceville, Ga., native finally is living up to the potential coaches saw when they brought him to East Lansing from more than 700 miles away.

“You look at a guy like Chris Allen and you look at his focus from last year to this year, it’s night and day,” Izzo said. “So, consequently, every stat he’s up in from last year and he’s probably played the best defense he’s played in his entire life.”

Allen is averaging career highs in points, rebounds, assists and steals — but Allen and his coaches agree those improvements stem from his growth on defense.

Summer of work

As the blue confetti rained down in Ford Field and the North Carolina Tar Heels celebrated their national championship last April, the Spartans headed to the locker room, somber in defeat.

The 89-72 loss was a particularly tough game for Allen, who missed all eight of his field goal attempts — including seven from 3-point range. To add injury to insult, Allen broke his right foot during the game.

After surgery and several weeks of recovery, Allen was out of shape as the summer began.

“Obviously, coming off of my injury, I had no muscles in my legs at all,” he said. “If you had seen my legs, you would’ve thought I was anorexic or something, never that I play basketball. That was my major point, just getting my legs back strong and getting back in tip-top shape.”

So Allen dedicated himself like he never had before. He spent more time in the weight room, more time in the gym and more time watching film.

“Honestly, I think that injury helped me,” Allen said. “It came at a perfect time.”

The physical rehabilitation coincided with a mental reincarnation for Allen, who seemed to go into a shell during his first two seasons. During the offseason, when Allen would play pickup games, he would challenge himself every play.

“Over the summer, one of the main things I was doing was anytime I’d go play open gym or anytime I’d go anywhere, I’d try to challenge myself to guard the quickest guy, or I might guard the biggest guy,” he said. “If he’s stronger than me, I’m just trying to improve myself and my defense and figure out ways I can stop a bigger and stronger guy or a smaller, fast guard. It’s just strategizing, really.”

Practice makes perfect

When the Spartans’ season began, one of the biggest questions was who would be the team’s lockdown defender.

Travis Walton, the 2009 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, had used up his eligibility and it was unknown who would step up in his place.

Senior forward Raymar Morgan was the most versatile defender on the team, while junior guard Durrell Summers had the most upside.

But Allen, much to the surprise of his coaches, has improved his defensive game in an unimaginable way.

“When Trav graduated, I just took it as a challenge,” Allen said. “‘They don’t think I can play defense so I’m going to prove them wrong.’ That was the main thing coach (Izzo) was talking about this summer, saying, ‘We don’t have a defensive stopper so we have to get more shots up and be solid and help more.’ In my mind I’m just thinking, ‘Well, I’m going to try to be that guy, I’m going to try to do all the little stuff, just study film, learn my opponents and see how Trav guarded them the year before.’ Any little edge I could get on the defensive end I was doing because that was my weak point.”

The result has been a rebirth for Allen.

“He’s not just more aggressive, he’s stronger,” associate head coach Mark Montgomery said. “He’s beating guys to the spot. Anytime you start taking it personally, you try to be a more well-rounded player. He knew that part of his game had to pick up, so it has.”

Although Allen is averaging career-highs in almost every stat, it’s his defense the powers the motor.

“For him, it’s been big because he’s been talking to me a lot and watching a lot of film and stuff like that,” Walton said of Allen. “Defense is your will. It doesn’t have to do with skill or nothing like that. Sometimes the quickest person can’t be a good defender and the slowest person, sometimes, is your best defender. I think he’s got the will to want to stop you now and he’s got the desire to do it. Since he’s got that, things are looking up for him.”

Confidence booster

Allen’s increased work ethic has earned him the long-awaited respect of his coach.

Following the Minnesota game, Allen often was matched up with Michigan’s Manny Harris, one of the Big Ten’s most versatile scorers.

“When I think that I put Chris Allen on Manny Harris, (if) you would have told me that a year ago they would have taken me to a nut ward,” Izzo said.

The more Allen has been challenged on the defensive end, the better he’s answered.

“I just feel like (Izzo is) a lot more comfortable with me in the game in clutch situations, just because he doesn’t have to worry about me getting beat,” Allen said.

“That’s a great feeling. It’s definitely a confidence booster. I feel like if my coach believes in me and he’s got me in the last 10 minutes of the game, when it’s clutch time, that helps confidence a lot.”

Allen’s rejuvenation also has been noticed by his former coach at Meadowcreek High School in Norcross, Ga.

“He’s definitely become a better defensive player. He’s really concentrating,” Meadowcreek head basketball coach Billy Davis said. “His footwork is better, he’s rebounding the ball better. I think the coaches have done a great job at getting the best out of him defensively.”

Davis said he and Allen have stayed in touch since Allen left for MSU. When Allen left high school, Davis knew his former star would have to be more than a shooter at the collegiate level.

“He needed to become a little quicker, as far as lateral movement,” Davis said.

“If you’re going to be a guard in college, you have to have that upper body strength. He always worked hard in the weight room but he learned to (have) a little more self-control. Coach Izzo teaches a lot of that.”

With junior guard Kalin Lucas recently hampered by an ankle injury, Allen has stepped up his offensive game as well. In the past two games, Allen has scored 15 and 21 points, respectively.

“When Coach said Kalin was going to be out, I was just thinking, ‘I’ve been playing defense pretty good, now I have to step up my offense’ … so now I have the mentality of, ‘Now I have to do that and score.’ It wasn’t really confidence, it was just me stepping up.”

Allen likely will be guarding Penn State sniper Talor Battle Saturday, something that seemed unthinkable as recently as last season. But because of his unrelenting drive — and performance thus far — Allen will have the full confidence of his coaches and teammates.

“Chris has been working his butt off. He’s working in the gym, he’s watching a lot of film and he’s being aggressive at all times,” Lucas said. “When you’re playing with confidence, you can’t do anything but play well in the game. That’s what we need him to do.”