Spartan Hoopla: Kalin Lucas Must Right the Spartan Ship Quickly

Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

Tell that to the Michigan State Spartans (9-3, 19-6) who have dropped their third straight conference game. The 10th-ranked team in the nation looked less like a contender and more like a confused wanna-be Tuesday night in its 76-64 loss.

After last night's debacle against the Purdue Boilermakers, the Spartans are forced to re-evaluate their drive and assess their priorities. Is a Big Ten crown still on Michigan State's to do list?

E'Twaun Moore was a crowd-silencer with his 25 points and JaJuan Johnson had his way in the paint with 19. With the recent onslaught of offense from the opposition (Bohannon, McCamey, and Moore) who is going to fuel the fire for MSU?

The Spartans dropped their first Big Ten contest at home in a must-win situation against the surging Boilers (8-3, 20-3) in what was supposed to be star point guard Kalin Lucas' triumphant return. The Spartan ship is his to command, there's no more excuses, he's back in the lineup.

Lucas looked to be at half strength last night, but managed to score 12 points in 29 minutes. Chris Allen had perhaps his best game of the year with 21 points, but wasn't enough to hold off coach Matt Painter's crew.

Turnovers, poor free-throw shooting, and overall mediocre play have become a monkey on coach Tom Izzo's club's back.

The Spartans have no inside presence, and it didn't start last night against the sixth-ranked Boilers. This has been a problem all year, it's just now catching up with the Big Ten's leaders.

Raymar Morgan—absent.

Delvon Roe—no show.

Draymond Green—nowhere to be found.

And finally, has anyone seen Durrell Summers? He's still a Spartan, isn't he?

After a 9-0 start, the Spartan ship is sinking and sinking fast.

Even with its floor general Lucas back in the lineup, Michigan State is in trouble. As bad as that may sound, Lucas is the only one who can save them. 

There's an open invitation sent out by the Izzo clan to the rest of the league, "Who wants the Big Ten? It's ours to give away."

Suspect defense may be the Spartans' Achilles' heel, not Lucas' ankle, as once thought. Protecting the paint and putting pressure on long-distance shooters are facets of the game that Izzo's men just aren't doing, and they're paying dearly for it.

With the loss, the Spartans will likely plummet in the top-25, and will be lucky to be in the top-15 by week's end.

With conference bottom-dwelling Penn State and Indiana next on the menu for Sparty, those "gimmes" are now must-wins. MSU will face Ohio State at home on Feb. 21, again a do-or-die situation. There's not going to be too many more chances to right the ship, a loss to the Thad Motta's Buckeyes would all but count them out of the race for a league title.

There's a leader for Michigan State, and now more than ever, he is needed to lead the way. Lucas has no choice as he may be the only one capable of pulling the Izzo clan from the gutter.

Morgan's inconsistency and Roe's inability to be the physical big-man that Izzo needs are becoming white-flag-waving circumstances. Green was moving into a role that would allow him to compliment Lucas, but now he's just fizzling away as a non-factor.

Korie Lucious is now becoming a liability, as opposed to a legit No. 2 behind Lucas. There's no longer an option when it comes to exploring new avenues of leadership, Lucas is the only option.

If Michigan State wants to win its sixth league championship under Izzo, Lucas has to be the one to carry his teammates. There's no questioning that, the answer is simply just "Too Easy."