Recap: Maryland vs. Michigan State
Sports Network | March 21, 2010
Spokane, WA (Sports Network) - Korie Lucious hit a three-pointer from the top of the arc just before the buzzer sounded to give Michigan State an 85-83 win over Maryland in the second round of the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament.
Lucious' layup with 2:09 remaining appeared to give Michigan State (26-8) a comfortable 80-71 lead before Maryland (24-9) came back with a vengeance. Greivis Vasquez got the Terrapins going with a three-point play and steal that led to a layup by Sean Mosley to make it an 80-76 game with 1:48 left.
MSU was unable to handle Maryland's trapping defense and Vasquez drained a corner three to cut the deficit to one. Following a Delvon Roe turnover, Vasquez again stepped up and hit a short jumper to put the Terps ahead 81-80 with 39 seconds to play, but Draymond Green answered with a bucket to put the Spartans back in front with 22 seconds left.
Vasquez again gave his squad the lead after hitting another short jumper with 6.6 seconds left before the exciting finish. MSU went the length of the floor and got the ball to Lucious on the right side. After one dribble he squared up from the top of the arc and nailed the game-winner.
The Spartans will now face No. 9 seed Northern Iowa in the regional semifinals in St. Louis on Friday.
"With a minute and a half, two minutes left I told my team when we were up four or six, whatever it was, we'll win this game," Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. "It's going to be one of the greatest wins in the history of Michigan State. And maybe that's an exaggeration, but if you know what we went through, as far as today with Kalin Lucas out and Delvon Roe just had nothing left and these guys having to play a lot of minutes and it just seemed like it was one thing after another."
Durrell Summers made six three-pointers and finished with a team-high 26 points, while Raymar Morgan went for 17 points and nine rebounds for Michigan State, which held on for a 70-67 opening-round win over 12th-seeded New Mexico State on Friday. The Spartans, who are trying to advance to the championship game for the second straight year, also got 13 points from Lucious.
Kalin Lucas had four points and six assists for MSU before aggravating a lower left leg injury and did not return to action. He appeared to land awkwardly on the leg after making a runner with 2:28 left in the first half, then was treated on the bench before hobbling into the locker room.
"It looks like it might be a torn achilles to be honest with you. And that poor kid, he was devastated," Izzo said about Lucas' injury. "But it's part of athletics and we're just going to have to move on."
The junior returned to the bench in the second half wearing a walking boot. Michigan State guard Chris Allen, who was slowed by a foot injury coming into the contest, came off the bench midway through the first half, but was in obvious discomfort and exited after only four minutes of action.
Vasquez ended with 26 points, eight assists and three steals, while Eric Hayes had 18 points and seven assists for Maryland, which notched an 89-77 victory over 13th-seeded Houston in the first round on Friday. Landon Milbourne had 11 points and Jordan Williams had 10 points and 10 boards in defeat.
"I thought we did everything we could to win the game. In other words, you ask your team to put it out there and try to win the game and I thought we did," Maryland head coach Gary Williams said. "You have to give Michigan State credit, they hit some big shots to counter what we were doing at the end of the game."
Morgan's layup finished off a 16-3 run to give Michigan State a 22-10 lead just under seven minutes into the contest. Vasquez's layup got Maryland to within three, 32-29, with 6:21 left in the first half and it was a five-point game in favor of the Spartans with 1:10 to play.
MSU closed the half on a strong note as Austin Thornton made a pair of free throws and Lucious' jumper put the Spartans up 48-39 at the break.
Michigan State continued to have its way with things until Maryland made their run in the last two minutes.
Michigan State improved to 3-2 in the all-time series over Maryland...Green ended with nine points, eight rebounds and five assists...Maryland, which was bidding for it first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2003, fell to 38-23 all-time in the NCAA Tournament...Morgan chipped his tooth with four minutes left in the second half, but returned to action.
