Spartan Hoopla: Did Kalin Lucas' Ankle Roll His Big Ten POTY Chances?

Unfortunately for Kalin Lucas, doing what a conference player of the year is supposed to do likely cost him his chances of repeating as the Big Ten's Player of the Year.

Lucas tried to do Feb. 2 what he's done all year for Tom Izzo—take games over.

In the midst of a 67-49 blow-out in Madison, Wisconsin, Lucas descended awkwardly from a jump shot and throttled his ankle on the foot of the Badgers' Keaton Nankivil.

After grimacing in pain for what seemed like an eternity to Spartan fans, Lucas was helped off the floor and into the locker room. 

Diagnosed as a high-ankle sprain, Lucas was forced to sit out in the Spartans' 78-73 loss in Champaign-Urbana to Bruce Weber's Illinois Fighting Illini.

That's when things came tumbling down for the green and white.

Sparty then dropped its next game, at home, to its rival Purdue. Matt Painter's Boilers notched themselves a 76-64 statement win at the expense of the Izzo clan.

In his return against Purdue, Lucas scored just 12 points in 29 minutes. Not anywhere close to full-tilt, but he toughed it out and suited up. Playing the Boilermakers at home was a pivotal match, and gamers like Lucas don't shy away from the limelight.

Before the Izzo clan's three game dive, there was no question who the conference's premier player was. It was clear that it was Michigan State's 6'1" junior point guard, Lucas.

Stampeding to a school record 9-0 start, Michigan State was one of the hottest teams in the land—and its star guard from Detroit was gaining momentum.

In a performance-based environment, it's more of a question of: "What have you done lately?"—not necessarily one's body of work.

Well, lately, Lucas has struggled to get back to pre-injury form, but he's bounced back from the loss against Purdue and led MSU to two straight victories.

Against Penn State, Lucas was the answer for Talor Battle's 30 points. He scored 24 points, and led Sparty to it's first win in over a week.The Hoosiers were up next, and his 13 points and second half heroics were the differences between a win and another loss. Nothing new for "Too Easy," it's what Izzo expected from him, and he delivered.

To compare Turner and Lucas, two of the best in the Big Ten, is unavoidable.

Turner's case is like Lucas' in some ways: He too, suffered an injury, although more severe in nature, only to rebound and guide his team to success.

Granted, Turner's injury wasn't at the most crucial of junctures in the season like Lucas' was, but the Buckeyes did drop 3-of-6 without him. Three losses that came at a time that didn't heavily weigh on tournament seeding or a league title race.

There's no way to predict an injury. There's only a way to judge a player's performance at climactic moments in the season, and Turner has the edge. Scoring 20 points and beating the league-leader 74-67 at home is quite the resume booster. On the other hand, Lucas scored only nine points in 35 minutes against Ohio State.

Had the ankle that rolled Sparty ceased to happen, there would be no debate on who the conference's elite athlete is.

It's evident that Ohio State's Evan Turner is the favorite to win the coveted Big Ten Player of the Year honor, but he hasn't won it yet.