After not scoring in the first half, senior guard Durrell Summers scored the final seven points for the Spartans, including the final four free throws that sealed MSU’s 66-61 win over Iowa in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Summers talks about those final points and having to step up with senior guard Kalin Lucas hobbled with an ankle injury.
Indianapolis – Senior guard Durrell Summers had to do something.
With 13:29 left to play, senior guard Kalin Lucas went to the ground with a left ankle sprain and Iowa went on an 8-0 run to open up a seven-point lead on the MSU men’s basketball team in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Spartans’ NCAA Tournament lives were hanging on by a thread.
With his best friend ailing, Summers scored all nine of his points in the final 10:15 – including MSU’s final seven points – as the Spartans survived with a 66-61 win over No. 10-seed Iowa at Conseco Fieldhouse.
“I was just trying to bounce back myself from a bad first half and just be aggressive, and the game was on the line, so I just — that’s pretty much winning time,” Summers said. “I just tried to do whatever I could to win.”
The win moves MSU (18-13) into the quarterfinals, where the Spartans will face Purdue (25-6).
But before looking ahead, the Spartans wanted to enjoy their win.
“I think they’re going to be excited when we get back because I think we had some key guys step up, especially Durrell,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.
After a horrific start in their previous game against Michigan, the Spartans jumped out to an early 10-4 lead behind six points from freshman center Adreian Payne.
The teams battled for the rest of the half and Iowa (11-20) cut down the lead as MSU took a 33-31 lead into halftime. Twenty-one of MSU’s points were scored by the duo of Lucas and junior forward Draymond Green.
Green had 15-points and seven rebounds in the half, eclipsing his numbers in the entire U-M game, a game for which Green took the blame.
“I had lay-ups and I missed them (against U-M), and I just wanted to come out and have a better showing because I know my coaching staff, my teammates know that’s not me,” Green said. “I felt I let the whole program down and the guys that came before me.”
In the second half, Iowa used a 13-3 run, highlighted by a slam dunk from Iowa guard Eric May, to open up a 52-45 lead with 11:40 to play.
With their NCAA Tournament hopes slipping away, the Spartans answered with a 14-2 run to take back the lead at 59-54 with 6:16 to play.
“Not at one point did we think we were out of it,” Green said. “We just said we thought we had to get it back on the defensive end.”
After Iowa cut the lead to 59-58 with 4:36 to play, Summers found himself wide-open and hit his only 3-pointer of the night.
Iowa responded with a 3-pointer and had the ball with one minute remaining, trailing by one. But Summers got a steal, was fouled, and hit both free throws with 24 seconds left. After Iowa missed a 3-pointer, Summers grabbed the rebound with three seconds left and hit two more free throws to ice the game.
Green led the Spartans with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Lucas scored 11 points and added four assists. The Hawkeyes were led by 14 points from guard Bryce Cartwright.
MSU shot just 40.7 percent from the field, but held Iowa to 39.3 percent and outrebounded the Hawkeyes, 39-31.
The Spartans know a big challenge lies ahead in Purdue, who swept the Spartans in the regular season, but following what has been the MSU motto for the past year, they survived and advanced.
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“We’ll enjoy this one until we get back to the film room in the hotel and get our minds focused on Purdue,” Green said. “You have to enjoy it a little bit, but once it’s time to hit the film room, it’s time.”
To read more on Lucas’ injury, check out the men’s basketball blog.
To see a video of reporters Chris Vannini and Jeremy Warnemuende breaking down the win, click here.
