Spartan Hoopla: Michigan State's Korie Lucious Fails In Spotlight

Without 6'1" Kalin Lucas in the lineup, there's a slight problem for Michigan State at the point-guard slot.

The Spartans dropped their second consecutive conference game Saturday night, this time to Demetri McCamey and the Illinois Fighting Illini.

McCamey sparked the huge win for Bruce Weber's unranked Illini with his game-high 22 points, dropping Sparty to the tune of 78-73 in Champaign-Urbana. With his 11 assists, McCamey was a part of nearly 70 percent of the Illini's offense in one way or another.

Tom Izzo used every point-man he had available, Chris Allen (natural No. 2 guard), walk-on Mike Kebler, and sophomore Korie Lucious.

In his 30 minutes on the floor, Lucious scored only four points and turned the ball over six times. Lucious' poor performance emphasizes the need for Lucas to return to the starting lineup—and quickly.

Michigan State (9-2, 19-5) has beat Illinois five straight times, but don't tell Weber's guys that. The Illini started the game like a house on fire, and despite sloppy play, knocked off the Big Ten's top team.

Illinois' game plan looked similar to Wisconsin's: Get the Spartans down early and shoot the three.

And shoot the three they did, hitting eight-of-18 with McCamey doing serious damage from beyond the arc (six-for-nine).

Raymar Morgan and Delvon Roe were no-shows yet again. Morgan played for 34 minutes, scoring eight points and grabbing three rebounds. The "Captain's" up and down play is budding concern for the Spartans who need him at full-speed in Lucas' absence.

Roe scored eight points, but was absent when it came to cleaning the glass. He finished with just two boards and was a non-factor in the paint.  

The "Dancing Bear" Draymond Green was the lone bright spot for Izzo's clan offensively, scoring 17 points (team-high). Green was dominant on the boards with 16 rebounds, and showed his athleticism with key put-backs when the Spartans needed them most.

State's two-guard Allen tallied 16 points, going four-for-six with his three-balls (five-for-eight overall). The last time Allen scored more than 12 points was Jan. 6 in Sparty's 54-47 win over Wisconsin.

The Lucas problem has now come to a head—what is Izzo going to do come Tuesday?

Although listed as day to day, Lucas is expected to suit up against the Boilers. If the conference's reigning player of the year wants to get his team back on the horse, he needs to do what he's done all year—put the Spartans on his back.

Perimeter defense and turnovers are the culprits for the recent Spartan slide, but that does not serve as cause for worry—yet.

Izzo's coaching duel with Purdue's Matt Painter on Tuesday is make or break time if the Spartans want to hold off the surging Wisconsin Badgers (8-3), Purdue Boilermakers (7-3), and Illinois Fighting Illini (8-3).

Game notes

Michigan State drops to 5-4 on the road.

State drops consecutive games for the first time since 2008-09 season.

Is Chris Allen's scoring slump over?

Michigan State shot 64 percent from the free-throw line.

The last time Illinois defeated a team ranked in the top five was Feb. 6, 2001. Who was it? You guessed it—the then fourth-ranked Michigan State Spartans.