Spartan Hoopla: Kalin Lucas and Draymond Green Keys to MSU's Win Streak

No matter how they looked at it, the writing was on the wall for Tom Crean's (3-10, 9-16) Indiana Hoosiers.

The Hoosiers are severely undersized compared to the Spartans, and lack the depth and speed that Tom Izzo's group possesses.

Izzo made sure his men exposed those very weaknesses in their nationally televised 72-58 romping over Crean's crew in Bloomington's Assembly Hall on Tuesday night.

From the onset of the game, 11th-ranked (11-3, 21-6) Michigan State established its presence in the paint, going to 6'8" freshman Derrick Nix early and often. Try as they might, the Hoosiers had absolutely no answer to the Spartans' inside game.

As impressive of a showing as Nix had in the first half, the game quickly turned into the "Kalin Lucas and Draymond Green" show in the second.

Izzo's leading men showcased the abilities that have made the duo so lethal all year long: Lucas' speed and leadership, Green's size and finesse—key ingredients for the Spartan offense.

Both Green and Lucas complimented each other's skill set; Lucas would make sure he got the ball down-low to Green, and Green inturn put the ball in Lucas' hands on the break. The 6'1" point-guard scored 13 points (10 or more in 36 of last 37 games) and had four assists. Green, the 6'6" forward finished with 14 points, three assists, and four boards.

Green was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor, and Lucas did what he does best—gave the defense migraines.  

The current two-game win streak will serve as a springboard for Sunday's showdown at the Breslin Center with Thad Motta's surging 12th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes—albeit came courtesy of two of the league's worst teams.

Ohio State sits just a half-game behind the Big Ten leading Izzo clan, so there's no room for mistakes on State's end. Purdue (No. 4) has knocked off the conference's elite at every turn, and can do Sparty a favor by snubbing Evan Turner and the Buckeyes on Wednesday night in Columbus.

Michigan State's road to a Big Ten crown isn't an easy trail to follow, it has to get past two of the league's strongest teams in a six day span (Feb. 21, home vs. OSU, Feb. 27 at Purdue), and still has another installment of its in-state rivalry with Michigan to play on March 6.

A late season three-game slide will take a team out of contention for a conference title more times than not, but it's hard to discount an Izzo-led squad.

Bouncing back from the skid is just a sign of more to come, adversity has made the Spartans stronger. Perhaps a losing trend is what they needed to remind them to keep their eyes on the prize: a Final Four and Big Ten championship.

If Green and Lucas can continue their alignment, Michigan State can become more than the Big Ten's team to beat, it can be be one of the tournament's teams to beat.