2008-2009 Men's College Basketball Discussion

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

I wonder if they'll stay ranked?

U of M, I would think so, they did win.

They lost earlier in the week though. They were #23 so a 1-1 week might hurt.

Monday, January 5, 2009
U-M drops out of polls
Joanne C. Gerstner / The Detroit News

There is no room for losses in the world of weekly college basketball polls.

Even though Michigan split a tough week of Big Ten home games versus Wisconsin and Illinois, it wasn't enough to keep the Wolverines in the rankings.

The Wolverines dropped out of the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today coaches polls released Monday. Michigan had been ranked No. 23 in the AP poll, and No. 24 in ESPN/USA Today.

U-M (11-3, 1-1 Big Ten) plays Wednesday at Indiana.

You can reach Joanne C. Gerstner at (313) 223-4644 or joanne.gerstner@detnews.com

You were right, cat. U of M drops out of polls.

Monday, January 5, 2009
MSU's Morgan earns Big Ten honor
Eric Lacy / The Detroit News

EAST LANSING -- Michigan State's Raymar Morgan has been named Big Ten player of the week for averaging 16 points and 11.5 rebounds in two conference victories last week.

In No. 10 MSU's Big Ten opener at Minnesota on Wednesday, Morgan, a junior forward, had 10 points and 10 rebounds. He followed that on Saturday at Northwestern with 22 points and 13 rebounds -- both team highs.

Morgan now has six career double-doubles.

MSU has homes games this week against Ohio State on Tuesday (7 p.m., ESPN2) and Kansas on Saturday (1 p.m., CBS).

Tickets ($13-30) are available for Tuesday's game. Call (800) GO-STATE or log onto msuspartans.com.

You can reach Eric Lacy at elacy@detnews.com

Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Michigan State 67, Ohio State 58
Spartans find flow, beat Buckeyes
Eric Lacy / The Detroit News

EAST LANSING -- Michigan State will have to play a variety of styles to accomplish its goals this season. MSU was reminded of that Tuesday against Ohio State.

Michigan State needed a while to find its flow in a game that started as a struggle between zone defenses, and eventually picked up the tempo to register a 67-58 victory.

The Spartans, 3-0 in Big Ten play, play eight of their next 13 games at home.

The stretch starts Saturday against Kansas and ends Feb. 25 at home against Iowa.

Kalin Lucas led all scorers with 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Raymar Morgan had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Goran Suton, a month after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, took another significant step with nine points and nine rebounds.

Lucas controlled the tempo most of the game, and his layup gave MSU a 57-47 lead near the seven-minute mark. He also made a 3-pointer with 2:45 left for a 63-50 cushion.

Ohio State had some success early with a trapping zone and took a 15-11 lead on an Evan Turner jumper.

But the Buckeyes' offense dried up when it was forced to shoot from the perimeter.

William Buford, a freshman from Toledo, led the Buckeyes with 17 points.

Ohio State shot 41.8 percent and made just 4 of 16 3-point attempts.

Buckeyes lose

Then again that's all they know how to do.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Michigan 72, Indiana 66 (OT)
Michigan rally stuns Indiana
Angelique Chengelis / The Detroit News

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Assembly Hall losing streak is no more.

Michigan, which had not won at Indiana's intimidating Assembly Hall in 14 years, staged a remarkable comeback, beating the young Hoosiers, 72-66, in overtime Wednesday night before 11,044.

The Wolverines are now 12-3 overall, 2-1 Big Ten. Indiana is 5-9, 0-2.

Michigan trailed nearly the entire game and were down by as many as 19 points in the first half -- they took a 17-point deficit into halftime -- but the Wolverines patiently whittled away and forced overtime.

With 23.4 seconds remaining in regulation and Michigan trailing, 59-56, Laval Lucas-Perry hit the game-tying 3-pointer.

Kelvin Grady gave the Wolverines their first lead since the opening minutes of the game when he scored on a 3-pointer a minute into overtime. Michigan never trailed again. The Wolverines got an added boost when the Hoosiers suddenly went cold from the free-throw line, making only 3-of-9 attempts.

Michigan had gone largely untested on the road this season until the Wolverines' trip to Assembly Hall. They carried an 11-60 record at Indiana into this game, and they had not won here since Jan. 24, 1995. It was only the second true road game of the season for the Wolverines considering they played three games at neutral sites.

Perry finished with 18 points and Manny Harris had 17.

All right! Those are the kind of games they need to win - games against lesser opponents.

And wow, I can't believe how bad they suck at Indiana historically. I mean I know Indiana is generally good, but come on!

Saturday, January 10, 2009
MSU holds off Kansas, 75-62
Eric Lacy / The Detroit News

EAST LANSING -- What was supposed to be a light day of preparation for Kansas drew plenty of emotion and sweat from Michigan State's players.

"It was like a walk-through with your uniform on," said Travis Walton, recalling Friday's rehearsal in sweatshirts and sweatpants. "That's what we need."

The session was intense, with players and coach Tom Izzo pumping fists, barking orders and even talking a little trash in anticipation of playing the defending national champs on national television.

"Coach was like, 'Get down!' and we're like, 'Man, we got no shorts,'" Walton said. "You saw Coach punching his hand and going all crazy."

That kind of intensity spilled over into Saturday's 75-62 victory as the Spartans extended their home winning streak to 27.

"We're still chuggin' along," Izzo said.

Players watched film Friday of MSU's 85-66 rout of defending champion Connecticut during the 1999-2000 season for motivation and then created some of their own memories.

Kalin Lucas led the Spartans with 22 points. Kansas guard Sherron Collins had 25 -- 20 in the second half.

Defense set the tone for the Spartans after trailing 7-1 in the first 90 seconds.

Collins' 3-pointer for the early lead was one of the last moments the Jayhawks were in control in the first half.

After that, Kansas went more 9 1/2 minutes without a field goal, had a scoreless stretch of 6:16 and trailed 37-18 at halftime.

Asked what went wrong, coach Bill Self said, "Everything."

Locked down by some unlikely contributors such as center Idong Ibok (two blocks), Self's team was held to three field goals in the final 15:10 of the half.

Playing sick with what he believed was food poisoning, center Goran Suton was glad he and his teammates could successfully test their toughness.

"Everybody can play on this team," said Suton, who had six points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes. "If we stick together, there aren't many teams that can beat us."

A Cole Aldrich up-and-under move in the paint with 5:51 left before the break was Kansas' first field goal after the lengthy drought and cut the Spartans' lead to 25-16.

MSU didn't let up in the second half. Raymar Morgan's reverse layup and free throw netted MSU a 54-35 lead.

Kansas made a final push with two Tyrel Reed 3-pointers about a minute apart to make it 61-48.

Collins then made a pair of free throws, assisted on a Reed layup, and drove into the lane for a basket of his own to cut MSU's lead to 63-54.

Chris Allen, however, buried a 3-pointer with 2:18 left to make it 66-54 and keep Kansas at bay.

Izzo, however, was not pleased with his team's finish.

"You think we're a veteran team, but we still have a lot of young guys that don't get it," Izzo said. "I tell these guys I want the total package."

You can reach Eric Lacy at elacy@detnews.com

Michigan beats Iowa and goes 2-0 for the week. They should be ranked again

We'll know tomorrow.

Sunday, January 11, 2009
U-M 64, Iowa 49
Michigan stops Iowa
Joanne C. Gerstner / The Detroit News

ANN ARBOR -- It was early enough Sunday to see some basketball players and fans yawning at Crisler Arena.

Michigan's game against Iowa tipped off at 11:30 a.m., a somewhat unusual hour, but the scheduling didn't matter to the Wolverines.

U-M played with control, easily handling Iowa, 64-49.

Michigan (13-3, 3-1 Big Ten) came out on point, burying Iowa, 15-4, in the game's opening minutes. Iowa (11-6, 1-3 Big Ten) appeared to be hitting the snooze bar for a few moments more of sleep, unable to cope with Michigan's 1-3-1 zone.

Iowa's confusion with the U-M zone led to seven points off turnovers -- thanks to seven steals -- in the first half.

The Wolverines comfortably led 32-16 at halftime.

Michigan offered more of the same in the second half, expanding the lead to as much as 28 points.

The turnover-to-fast break mode continued to work for U-M, with Laval Lucas-Perry spurring the prettiest one of the game at 12:08. He jumped to intercept a pass, incurring a collision with a Hawkeye.

Lucas-Perry kept his balance and managed to tap the ball to Kelvin Grady. The fastbreak was on, and Grady delivered a nifty on-the-run scoop pass to Manny Harris.

No layup this time for Harris, as he'd finished breaks earlier in the game. Harris threw down a two-handed dunk and Michigan led 48-29.

Harris led with 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals. He shot 50 percent from the field.

DeShawn Sims added 16 points and two steals.

The Wolverines finished with a season-high 12 steals.

You can reach Joanne C. Gerstner at (313) 223-4644 or joanne.gerstner@detnews.com

Michigan is ranked again!

Clemson has been ranked! And so has Duke! I looooove Duke!!!

Thursday, January 15, 2009
Michigan State 78, Penn State 73
Spartans barely hold on
They survive late rally, move to 4-0 in Big Ten
Eric Lacy / The Detroit News

STATE COLLEGE, Pa . -- For the first time in Tom Izzo's 14 years as coach, Michigan State is 4-0 in the Big Ten.

MSU earned it Wednesday against Penn State, pulling away 78-73 after nearly blowing a 17-point lead in the second half.

"I don't ever feel comfortable with (accomplishments)," Izzo said. "Maybe that's the good news."

MSU is off to its best start in conference since Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jay Vincent and Greg Kelser led the 1977-78 squad to seven straight league wins en route to a Big Ten title.

Wednesday's game wasn't decided until the final 14.6 seconds when Goran Suton poked the ball away from Talor Battle.

Durrell Summers corralled the loose ball, drew a foul from Battle and drilled a pair of free throws for a 76-72 lead before Penn State's final possession.

"We're going to try and make every game a big game so no upsets happen," Summers said of his team's mind-set after the close finish. "We'll do what we have to do."

Suton felt fortunate to be at the right place at the right time with Summers nearby.

"I got a hand on it and might have hit (Battle) a little bit with my foot, too," Suton said smiling.

Battle thought Suton fouled him, but he didn't use that as an excuse.

The sophomore point guard was a pest for MSU the entire night.

Penn State never led in the second half but cut its deficit to a point twice in the final 1:24 because of Battle's aggressiveness.

He netted a pair of free throws with 27.9 seconds left to make it 73-72 and hit a 3-pointer to cut MSU's lead to 71-70.

"Good teams are going to retaliate," said Battle, who played nearly 40 minutes before fouling out with 15 seconds left. "Hopefully when we go to East Lansing (on Feb. 1) we can compete like this."

Battle began Penn State's late surge with a fast-break layup, and then assisted on a Jamelle Cornley layup to make it 69-67 at 2:30.

Battle finished with 20 points and five assists, while Cornely had 26.

Raymar Morgan led MSU with 17 points and Kalin Lucas had 15. Suton added 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Izzo was not pleased with his team's second-half play and stressed the importance of finishing games.

"We fooled you and we fooled ourselves," Izzo said. "We're good, but not so good we can play average and win."

The first half was another story.

MSU looked like the Big Ten's leader in scoring and 3-point shooting, producing a 42-29 halftime lead.

Lucas ended a 26-5 run with a 3-pointer about 90 seconds before the half. He finished 1-of-4 from beyond the arc.

Penn State raced out to an early lead (22-16) after Chris Babb nailed a 3-pointer with 11:10 left.

Momentum began to shift after a rare basket from Idong Ibok, who grabbed a Summers miss and laid it up for a 24-23 edge.

Ibok's basket started a 15-4 surge, completed with a pair of Lucas free throws.

Penn State failed to get a rebound the first 4:25 of play and was out-rebounded 41-24.

You can reach Eric Lacy at elacy@detnews.com

Thursday, January 15, 2009
Illinois 66, Michigan 51
Wolverines go stone cold in second half
Tisdale, benched in first matchup, scores 24 for Illinois; U-M 6-of-29 after break.
Detroit News wire services

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois center Mike Tisdale scored 24 points and guard Demetri McCamey added 17 in a 66-51 victory over No. 25 Michigan on Wednesday night.

The teams faced each other just 10 days earlier, a 74-64 win for Michigan in Ann Arbor. Illinois coach Bruce Weber pulled Tisdale from that game early, saying he was too rattled by Michigan forward DeShawn Sims to be effective.

Tisdale scored all but six of his points in a strong second half for Illinois (15-2, 3-1 Big Ten), many on soft jump shots as he finished 10-of-12 from the field.

Sims finished with 14 points and nine rebounds at Ann Arbor. On Wednesday, he had a quiet seven points on 3-14 shooting.

Manny Harris had 20 points for the Wolverines (13-4, 3-2).

The Wolverines went up 31-30 at halftime, the game's 11th lead change. Neither team led by more than three points until then.

But Michigan opened the second half cold, including a three-minute scoreless run that allowed Illinois to go up 39-34 on a jumper by Tisdale. Illinois never trailed again.

Tisdale's exclamation point was a long 3-pointer with just under five minutes left that gave Illinois a 57-45 lead and lit a fire under a near-capacity crowd.

McCamey provided the bulk of Illinois' offense in the first half, with 15 points and two assists.

The Wolverines were 6-of-29 from the field in the second half, and Harris accounted for 15 of their 20 points after halftime.

Michigan didn't get to the free-throw line until the 18:15 mark of the second half, and were just 6-of-9 from the line.

Illinois has victories over three Top 25 teams, winning at Purdue and beating Missouri at a neutral site.

No. 500 must wait

John Beilein carries himself in an unassuming way.

On the court, Michigan's coach sheds his suit coat and rolls up his sleeves, just another working man on the job.

His resume, though, spells out loud and clear just how good of a coach he has been in college basketball.

Beilein remained one victory away from his 500th at a four-year college after Michigan lost to Illinois Wednesday night.

He closed in on the milestone much quicker than anyone expected thanks to leading a remarkable turnaround for the 25th-ranked Wolverines (13-4, 3-2 Big Ten), who lost a school-record 22 games last year in Beilein's debut season with them.

"Coach deserves at least half of the credit for turning us around," Harris said. "He can't make buckets, but he calls the shots and puts us in a position to succeed."

Michigan won three of its first four Big Ten games after winning just five of 18 last season, but Beilein tried to dodge praise.

"We just took advantage of a fortuitous early schedule in the conference," Beilein said. "Last year, we started 0-3 against teams that ended up in the NCAA Tournament."

Well, was it fortuitous to beat two teams ranked No. 4 -- Duke and UCLA -- in a two-week stretch before the Big Ten season?

"We had a couple good games," Beilein acknowledged sheepishly.

Michigan, of course, has had more than just a two good games this season just as Beilein has had more than a couple solid seasons during a career that started in 1979 at Erie (N.Y.) Community College and hasn't included a day as an assistant coach.

His consistent run of success will put him in the 500-win club, an impressive list topped by Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and his 800-plus wins and including College of Charleston coach Bobby Cremins just ahead of Beilein at the bottom.

Duke won...

MSU 63, ILLINOIS 57
Spartans take fight to Illini

FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES • January 17, 2009

EAST LANSING — Kalin Lucas scored all 10 of his points in the second half and Raymar Morgan made the go-ahead free throws with 4:49 left, lifting No. 7 Michigan State over Illinois 63-57 on Saturday, the Spartans’ 11th straight win and 28th in a row at home.


Goran Suton led MSU (15-2, 5-0 Big Ten) with 12 points. Marquise Gray added 11 points. Lucas finished with 10.

Alex Legion (Birmingham Detroit Country Day) scored 15 points for Illinois (15-3, 3-2). Calvin Brock added 13.

MSU outrebounded Illinois, 42-30.

Before the game, Michigan State retired No. 42 in honor of former All-American Morris Peterson, who helped MSU win the 2000 national championship.

Michigan State hasn’t lost at the Breslin Center since Feb. 3, 2007.

Lucas made a shot and Morgan connected on two free throws to start a 9-0 run that put the Spartans ahead by five with just under four minutes left.

The Spartans stayed atop the Big Ten, extending their best start in the conference since 1977-78 when Magic Johnson was a freshman.

Illinois, whose only loss in their previous 10 games was at Michigan early this month, had a chance to move into a first-place tie with Michigan State and Minnesota.

The Illini blanked Lucas in the first half, shutting down the player who was scoring a Big Ten-best 19 points in conference games and held Morgan scoreless for the first 18 minutes of the game.

Michigan State shot 41 percent in the first half and had 14 turnovers, leading to a 34-27 deficit.

The Spartans shot even worse in the second half, but they had just four turnovers after halftime and forced 11 of Illinois’ 18 turnovers.

After the Illini took a 54-51 lead with 6:10 left, they scored just three points.

CLICK HERE FOR GAME SCORING

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Penn State 73, Michigan 58
Weary Wolverines lose third straight
Fatigue is evident as U-M, playing fourth game in nine days, falls into a deep hole and never digs out.
Angelique S. Chengelis / The Detroit News

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Perhaps weariness has set in.

The Michigan men's basketball team played its fourth Big Ten game within a nine-day span on Tuesday night at Penn State, and the Wolverines looked like a team that needs a break.

They also looked like a team that needs a shooting clinic.

Michigan lost its third straight, this time to Penn State, 73-58, at the Bryce Jordan Center. U-M (13-6, 3-4 Big Ten) has a much-needed three-day break before facing Northwestern at home Saturday.

Penn State improved to 15-5, 4-3.

"What's hurt us, and I don't mean this to be an excuse, (but) once again I go back to scheduling, we have not had one of those days in nine days that we said, 'OK, let's just us get better today,' " Michigan coach John Beilein said. "It's always, watch the film, rest a little bit after a late trip, get ready for the next game, go play again. It's an NBA schedule."

The Wolverines made 39 percent of their field goals and were a 5-of-30 from the 3-point line (16.7 percent), their worst performance of the year. DeShawn Sims was the lone highlight, as he emerged from a two-game shooting slump with a game-high 21 points along with 11 rebounds.

Manny Harris, Michigan's leading scorer was averaging 18.8 points entering the game. He tied a career low with four points. Harris made 1-of-9 field-goal attempts and was 0-for-5 from the 3-point line. His only second-half points came on two free throws.

"Very frustrating loss just frustrating right now, that's it," Harris said. "We shoot enough in practice, maybe we need to shoot even more. I think we had good looks. We beat ourselves."

Michigan post-game locker room was, as expected, subdued and quiet. But while clearly there was some frustration, The Wolverines wouldn't admit to fatigue.

"Three-game skid, not being able to shoot the ball, it can't be that frustrating because we've got so many more games to play and it's still early in the season," Sims said. "I don't think this team is tired. ... We just have to get out of the slump."

The Nittany Lions opened a 23-point lead in the first eight minutes of the second half after going on a 24-8 run. Penn State, which made two 3-pointers in the first half, made four during the final few minutes of that run. The Nittany Lions led by as many as 26.

Penn State was led by Jamelle Cornley's 17 points.

You can reach Angelique S. Chengelis at angelique.chengelis@detnews.com

NORTHWESTERN 70, MICHIGAN STATE 63
Streak ends as Wildcats shock Spartans at Breslin Center

By SHANNON SHELTON • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • January 21, 2009

EAST LANSING – Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said that the mid-January version of the Northwestern Wildcats was much better than the Northwestern team the Spartans faced just 18 days earlier on the road.

If his players didn’t believe him when he made that statement earlier this week, they did after they walked off the court at the Breslin Center on Wednesday night.

Northwestern used a strong defensive effort and hot long-range shooting to record a 70-63 upset of No. 7 MSU, ending a 28-game home winning streak and handing the Spartans their first Big Ten loss.

The Wildcats led most of the second half, but MSU took a brief 1-point advantage with 7:25 remaining after Durrell Summers hit a pair of free throws. Twenty seconds later though, Northwestern senior Craig Moore hit a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a 2-point lead and Michael Thompson followed up with a 3-pointer to extend Northwestern’s lead.

Moore, the Wildcats’ top scorer, had just two points until that shot.

Northwestern maintained the lead for the rest of the game, answering MSU’s buckets with long-range shots of their own, including another three from Thompson and one from Moore. The Wildcats led by seven with 1:27 left, but MSU got within one possession when Korie Lucious hit a 3-pointer with 45.9 seconds remaining.

The Spartans were forced to foul after that to send Northwestern to the line, and MSU failed to score from the field on subsequent drives.

The Spartans’ biggest lead was seven, as they went up 13-6 on a Summers’ 3-pointer with 13:38 left in the first half. That’s when Northwestern forward Kevin Coble began his shooting spree, making a lay-up and a 3-pointer to cut MSU’s lead to two. Thompson followed with a three to give Northwestern a 14-13 lead.

That began a back-and-forth battle in which MSU consistently fell short. Coble had a strong first half, scoring 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He didn’t slow down in the second, and scored seven points in the first five minutes. He finished with 31 points.

As the Spartans tried to beat Northwestern’s zone, the Wildcats took advantage of some errant MSU passes and stepped up their man-to-man defense. That led to eight Spartan turnovers in the first half, five of which came from sophomore guard Chris Allen. He finished with seven of MSU’s 18 turnovers.

Allen started in place of junior forward Raymar Morgan, who’s been suffering from flu-like symptoms over the past week. Morgan played sparingly, finishing with one point and four fouls in 18 minutes.

I can't believe MSU got beat by Northwestern

gs78 wrote:

I can't believe MSU got beat by Northwestern

Maybe they thought they were having a spelling bee or something?

Northwestern sucks at everything (except academics)

Duke should be the new #1!!

catbox_9 wrote:

gs78 wrote:

I can't believe MSU got beat by Northwestern

Maybe they thought they were having a spelling bee or something?

Northwestern sucks at everything (except academics)

Sunday, January 25, 2009
Michigan 68, Northwestern 59
Beilein gets 500th win as U-M ends skid
Angelique S. Chengelis / The Detroit News

ANN ARBOR -- The Michigan men's basketball team has become so accustomed to winning this season, it forget what it was like to lose.

Then the Wolverines dropped three straight and headed into Saturday night's game against Northwestern facing a must-win situation. Although they said they were free from panic, the Wolverines know they cannot afford the losses if they want to achieve their goal -- an invitation to the NCAA Tournament.

Michigan, coming off two practices that focused on defense and fundamentals, got a much-needed 68-59 victory over the Wildcats at Crisler Arena. It was coach John Beilein's 500th career win.

"This is like being freed from bondage, are you kidding me?" Beilein said of snapping the losing streak. "You forget what it's like to lose as a coach and as a player, and that adversity will test you a little bit. We got some confidence back, and what do we do next? We go to Ohio State and then we go to Purdue. We just have to keep playing our best and keep moving."

The Wildcats, who upset Minnesota and Michigan State this past week, fell to 10-7 overall and 2-5 in Big Ten play.

DeShawn Sims led the Wolverines (14-6, 4-4) with 15 points. He was 5-of-5 from the field in the first half. Kelvin Grady added 11 points.

Manny Harris, the team's leading scorer entering the game, is in a bit of a scoring slump. He has 12 points the last two games, including eight against Northwestern, but he played an important role with 12 rebounds, including 11 defensive, and four assists.

Kevin Coble, who entered the game as Northwestern's leading scorer (15.6 points), led the Wildcats with 21 points. Michael Thompson shot 50 percent from the 3-point line and finished with 16 points, and Craig Moore added 12.

Clearly, plenty of basketball remains for the Wolverines, but they are a fringe NCAA Tournament candidate and can't afford losing skids and poor shooting performances.

The Wolverines know that, but their focus is not studying the scheduling, calculating tournament odds and figuring out which games are winnable and which might require more effort. Their focus is simple -- getting better.

"There was no talk that about being a must-win," said Michigan senior C.J. Lee, a co-captain. "But you could kind of tell with the mood in practice this week, and talking to the guys before the game we obviously know what's at stake. We know the environment, we know what's happening, we know where we are in our season, so it was a matter of us playing well.

"We knew if we'd play well we could win. That was the main focus this week."

The mood in practice, Lee said, was urgency.

"I mean, when you've lost three straight in conference, you don't get those games back," Lee said. "When you drop three straight, you know that people are going to start questioning, and you're going to start questioning, you know, 'What are we doing here in terms of our effort and energy that we bring onto the court?' That was probably the most disappointing thing about the three losses. We felt like we left something on the court, and tonight we just wanted to go hard all the time."

Michigan led by as many as 13 in the second half. The Wolverines were 15-of-18 in free-throw attempts. Northwestern attempted only three free throws.

Beilein said he is not concerned about Harris's scoring productivity the last two games.

"Not at all," Beilein said. "He had all types of assists. I see all these matchups on TV, and who's leading the Big Ten, but that's not a stat that should be relative. It should be, 'Are we winning games? Are we winning games?' Because he is one guy that makes us better every time that he ends up driving, shooting, making two guys guard him."

500 wins

How do they figure?

He has 89 at Canisius
100 at Richmond
104 at West Virginia
and 24 at Michigan

Monday, January 26, 2009
No. 7 MSU 78, Ohio St. 67
Lucas, Summers help MSU rebound
Point guard scores 20 in second half; swingman has 26
Eric Lacy / The Detroit News

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Asked if it's hard to be selfish, Kalin Lucas smiled and laughed.

Not one to brag, Michigan State's point guard let his game do the talking Sunday in a 78-67 come-from-behind victory at Ohio State.

Benched along with Travis Walton because of an academic obligation the two didn't meet, Lucas roared in the second half with all 20 of his points.

The Sterling Heights native sliced and diced into the lane against zone pressure and it wasn't a surprise to childhood friend and teammate Durrell Summers.

"K did his thing," said Summers, who led MSU (16-3, 6-1 Big Ten) with 26 points. "I've seen him make crazy layups and everything most of my life.

"You got to have some kind of (guts) to do stuff like that in those kinds of situations."

Lucas was a comeback catalyst in a game that wasn't decided until 2:53 was left, when he made a wide-open 3-pointer for a 69-58 lead.

When Lucas didn't convert from the perimeter, he attacked the basket with running jumpers and spinning layups that split multiple defenders.

"He's a tremendous guard," Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said. "He goes left and he goes right, so you don't know what way he's going to."

It takes some special attributes to excel at MSU, which has produced floor leaders such as Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Scott Skiles and Mateen Cleaves.

"Both," said Lucas, when asked if he likes to take over games or defer to teammates. "I try to get my teammates involved early and look for my shot, too."

After Wednesday's stunning loss at Breslin Center to Northwestern ended a 28-game home winning streak, coach Tom Izzo was pleased with Lucas' response.

Izzo believes it's a sign his team has matured and has the leadership it needs to move forward.

Summers' career high also prompted optimism.

"I'm hoping it's one of those many stages of growing up," Izzo said of the victory, which improves MSU's Big Ten road record to 4-0.

Goran Suton had 13 points and nine rebounds.

On an afternoon on which Izzo's two team captains were disciplined and came off the bench, and on the day Raymar Morgan remained sick with a viral infection, MSU turned several negatives into positives.

Down 13 early in the first half with Morgan coughing and sniffling, Summers' surge from the perimeter began MSU's slow, steady climb.

Summers made four 3-pointers in the first half -- six total -- including one before the halftime buzzer that cut Ohio State's lead to 31-26.

He also was part of a dominant effort on the boards -- 16 offensive rebounds for MSU compared to three for Ohio State (13-5, 3-4). Despite 10 3-pointers, the Buckeyes couldn't get enough scoring punch from their bench (outscored 31-15) or in the paint (outscored 30-16).

Walton believes MSU has shown signs of maturity after last week's shocker.

"Our heads aren't down," Walton said. "Each player grew up (on Sunday) in their own way."

MSU plays at Iowa on Thursday, followed by three straight home games to start February.

You can reach Eric Lacy at elacy@detnews.com

MSU falls to No. 9 in AP poll; U-M gets no votes

By JIM O’CONNELL • AP Basketball Writer • January 26, 2009

Duke returned to the top of the Associated Press’ college basketball poll today, a place the Blue Devils have been very familiar with in recent years.

The Blue Devils (18-1) moved up one spot to No. 1, their first appearance there since the final poll of 2005-06. They were ranked on top for at least one week in every season from 1997-98 to 2003-04 and only UCLA’s 134 weeks at No. 1 beats Duke’s 111 in the 59-year history of the poll.

“When you have a chance to be voted No. 1 at any time, it is an honor you don’t take lightly,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said today. “It is not something you try to keep winning but you try to keep improving. I think it goes with the territory we’ve been in for a while.”

Duke received 62 first-place votes and 1,789 points from the 72-member national media panel to easily outdistance Connecticut (18-1), which was No. 1 on six ballots and had 1,694 points, 47 more than Pittsburgh (18-1), which had three first-place votes.

Pitt moved into the No. 1 spot three weeks ago for the first time in school history and the Panthers were replaced at the top last week by Wake Forest, which had spent a total of two weeks at the top before that.

Three teams — Saint Mary’s, Washington and Kentucky — moved into the rankings for the first time this season, replacing Minnesota, Notre Dame and Florida.

Oklahoma (19-1), which received one first-place vote, moved from sixth to fourth, jumping North Carolina, which was a unanimous No. 1 in the preseason poll and for the first seven weeks of the season.

With Duke, Wake Forest and North Carolina all being from the Atlantic Coast Conference, it is the fourth time one league has three teams reach No. 1 in the same season. The Southeastern Conference did it in 2002-03 (Alabama, Florida, Kentucky), while the Big Eight did it in 1989-90 (Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma) and the ACC in 1985-86 (Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Duke).

Louisville, which won at Syracuse on Sunday, moved up two spots to seventh and was followed by Marquette, Michigan State and Xavier. The Spartans fell from No. 7 to No. 9 after losing at home to Northwestern and beating Ohio State on the road.

Here is this week's AP Top 25:

Team - Record - Pts - Pvs
1. Duke (62) 18-1 1,789 2
2. Connecticut (6) 18-1 1,694 3
3. Pittsburgh (3) 18-1 1,647 4
4. Oklahoma (1) 19-1 1,539 6
5. North Carolina 17-2 1,529 5
6. Wake Forest 16-1 1,509 1
7. Louisville 15-3 1,351 9
8. Marquette 17-2 1,209 11
9. Michigan State 16-3 1,136 7
10. Xavier 17-2 1,084 15
11. Texas 14-4 1,017 14
12. Clemson 17-2 929 10
13. Butler 18-1 916 16
14. Arizona State 16-3 834 17
15. Syracuse 17-4 808 8
16. Purdue 15-4 724 18
17. UCLA 15-4 544 13
18. Memphis 16-3 530 22
19. Illinois 17-3 401 25
20. Gonzaga 14-4 381 23
21. Villanova 15-4 276 20
22. Saint Mary’s 18-1 247 —
23. Washington 15-4 218 —
24. Kentucky 16-4 217 —
25. Georgetown 12-6 189 12

Others receiving votes: Notre Dame 154, Minnesota 138, Kansas 84, Florida 65, Missouri 52, Virginia Tech 37, Baylor 34, West Virginia 32, Davidson 27, Utah State 23, Dayton 14, California 13, UNLV 4, Florida State 3, Ohio State 1, Virginia Commonwealth 1.

Here is this week's USA Today/ESPN poll:

Team - Record - Pts - Pvs
1. Duke (30) 18-1 774 2
2. Connecticut (1) 18-1 733 3
3. Pittsburgh 18-1 706 4
4. Wake Forest 16-1 666 1
5. Oklahoma 19-1 663 5
6. North Carolina 17-2 636 6
7. Louisville 15-3 547 12
8. Marquette 17-2 538 10
9. Michigan State 16-3 475 7
10. Xavier 17-2 458 13
11. Clemson 17-2 425 9
12. Texas 14-4 402 15
13. Butler 18-1 384 17
14. Arizona State 16-3 378 16
15. Syracuse 17-4 321 8
16. UCLA 15-4 311 11
17. Purdue 15-4 267 18
18. Saint Mary’s 18-1 212 22
19. Memphis 16-3 193 24
20. Illinois 17-3 181 24
21. Villanova 15-4 113 21
22. Notre Dame 12-6 97 19
23. Georgetown 12-6 92 14
24. Minnesota 17-3 84 20
25. Gonzaga 14-4 60 —

Others receiving votes: Florida 59, Utah State 56, Kentucky 50, Baylor 42, Washington 41, California 31, Missouri 22, Dayton 18, Davidson 14, Kansas 13, Brigham Young 6, Florida State 3, UNLV 2, Virginia Tech 1, West Virginia 1.

Notre Dame, and Georgetown shouldnt be in the top 25.
Thats too much respect for 6-loss teams.