Lucious Beats Buzzer, Maryland for Hobbled Michigan State

Michigan State lost leading scorer Kalin Lucas in the first half and lost forward Delvon Roe for stretches due to a knee problem. They lost Chris Allen for all but four minutes and lost every bit of a 16-point lead in the second half.

Heck, in a game in which the Spartans seemed to lose everything but their jerseys, even Raymar Morgan even lost half a tooth late in the second half.

The only thing Michigan State didn't lose was that old March Magic.

Korie Lucious drilled a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the top of the key to advance the Spartans to the Sweet 16 with a wild 85-83 win over Maryland that saw four lead changes in the final 35 seconds.

"I just tried to get it up and it went in," Lucious said precisely as prosaically as his shot was dramatic.

When the ball slipped through the net, Lucious ran back up the court before being mobbed by everyone including the Spartans' foam-muscle bound mascot Sparty. In Bracketville in March, the only thing more important than hitting the game-winning shot is finding someone to hug.

Boy did Lucious do both.

The smallest man on the court -- Lucious is creatively listed at 5-foot-11, which either means he has East Lansing phone books for feet or the Spartans media information staff took George Washington's cherry tree to be a parable about forestry -- Lucious set off the biggest celebration of the fourth day.

"That just shows how close we are as a university," Lucious said of the mascot-topped dog-pile at the the Maryland free throw line. "We all got each other's back and we were happy to get the win."



The Spartans got a career-high 26 points from Durrell Summers and 17 from on-again, off-again star Morgan, but for a group hobbled by injury and seemingly waiting to be saved by the bell, this was a team rebound.

Even, as a 14-point lead evaporated in the final 6:47, if it looked like a sinking ship with all hands paddling furiously.

Afterward, coach Tom Izzo's hoarse words dripped with pride.

"I told my team when we were up [and clinging to a late lead], we'll win this game," Izzo said. "It's going to be one of the greatest wins in the history of Michigan State. And maybe that's an exaggeration, but if you know what we went through, with [Lucas] out and Delvon just had nothing left...."

"I've been proud of a lot of teams through my career, but I think it makes what we went through all the better."

And in one magic March moment all was well. There was no talk of lack of leadership from Lucas and the upper classmen and the only mention of Summers' benching during the second half of the Spartans' loss to Minnesota int he Big Ten tournament was a joke from Izzo.

"I told him in practice yesterday, Durrell, the only reason I sat you in the second half [against Minnesota] is so you would have more legs for today," Izzo said. "And he had some legs today."

The Spartans needed every contribution they could get

Lucas, the team's leading scorer left the game with 2:28 remaining in the first half, shortly after his runner in the lane put the Spartans ahead by seven. The point guard tried to run back up court, but instead had to hop back on one foot, awkwardly trying to defend the ball before the referee granted an injury timeout. He would return to the sideline, but only in sweatpants and a protective boot, a hoodie cloaking his face.

Without Lucas, Maryland coach Gary Williams went to a full-court press the Spartans full court and did the job effectively enough that Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had to call a timeout 19 seconds into the second half.

Maryland forced 19 Michigan State turnovers, most off its full-court pressure.

"We knew as soon as they found out Kalin was out that they were coming at us like sharks on blood," Izzo said.

Still, Michigan State shot 55.2 percent from the floor and out-rebounded Maryland 42-24, so, midway through the second half, the MSU lead bulged to 16.

Then the Maryland press and the heroics of Greivis Vasquez, the Terps' fearless scorer who post up a bull while wearing his red Maryland jersey if he had to, took over.

A Lucious drive with 2:05 to play put the Spartans ahead 80-71 deficit with, but two Maryland steals and eight Vasquez points put the Terps up 81-80 with 35 seconds left.

Then it really got dramatic.

Following a Michigan State timeout, Draymond Green drilled a jumper just inside the 3-point line for an 82-81 Spartan lead. Vasquez, who passed Len Bias for second place on the all-time scoring Maryland scoring list earlier in the game, barreled back down court for a runner in the lane to give the Terps the lead with 6.6 seconds to play.

As it turned out, it was about 6.3 too many seconds to leave the Spartans.

Draymond Green rushed the ball back up court without a time out, passed to Lucious on the right wing, just over the head of a ducking Roe. Lucious calmly dribbled back to the top of the key and swished a 3-pointer as the buzzer echoed in Spokane, Wash., sending Michigan State back to the Sweet 16 and bowing a dozen Maryland heads at once.

For Izzo, it was his eighth trip to the round of 16, but none was quite as sweet as this, at least until he discussed the future of his injured point guard.

In the postgame press conference, Izzo announced that Lucas likely had an Achilles tear, which would end his season.

"I felt bad for him, because I could feel the tears of joy and the tears of sorrow at the same time," Izzo said. "I told him I loved him, because know how hard this is."

And with that, Izzo and the Spartans moved on to the Bittersweet 16.

Key Element
Michigan State's team play. Without Lucas, everyone in green stepped up their game. The Spartans got 17 points from Morgan, a career best 26 from Summers and key contributions from Austin Thornton, Derrick Nix and Mike Kebler. Tom Izzo's team easily could have folded without Lucas, yet despite not solving Maryland's full-court press, the Spartans advanced to St. Louis.

Game Ball Goes To
Lucious. He wasn't the best player all game -- that honor belongs to Summers -- but his composure in the final seconds was the difference. The Spartans didn't have Lucas, but for six seconds in March, it didn't matter.

Heart Goes Out To:
Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes. Hayes doesn't get the publicity of his backcourt running mate, but the two biggest stars of Maryland's senior class rebuilt a program that had fallen so far from its national championship glory that its hometown paper published what amounted to a multi-part obituary. One year, and two NCAA tournament wins later, Gary Williams was coach of the year, Vasquez player of the year and Maryland back among the elite programs in the nation.

What's Next:
For Michigan State, giant-killer Northern Iowa awaits. The Spartans will likely be without Lucas, but even with Lucious at the helm Michigan State is as tough a matchup stylistically as the Panthers could draw.