Michigan State fights past Iowa, maintains Big Ten lead

The good news for Tom Izzo? His Michigan State ballclub prevailed in a typical Big Ten grinder against Iowa on Wednesday night in East Lansing. The 62-54 win preserved a one-game lead over Purdue in the loss column. The bad news? The Spartans' inability to blow out the shorthanded Hawkeyes in the Breslin Center suggests that the status of MSU's season is quite uncertain at this point in time.
 
It's that kind of an existence when you're a program as credentialed as Michigan State: On one hand, any late-February win that takes you one step closer to a Big Ten title should be viewed as a positive achievement. Moving to 12-3 in the league, a game and a half ahead of the 10-4 Boilermakers, is undeniably great news for the school that has bolstered the Big Ten's postseason reputation in the past decade, but has failed to win the regular-season league title since 2001. In many ways, ugly wins such as this eight-point eclipse of Iowa represent the difference between a first-place finish and a third-place season.

But then, on the other hand, Michigan State--as a powerhouse school with a big-name coach--has attained such stature in the college basketball world that a so-so performance against a Jeff Peterson-free Iowa team will inevitably raise questions. While the glass-half-full crowd will emphasize the bottom-line result against Todd Lickliter's bunch, the glass-half-empty gallery has reason to be skeptical of Sparty.
 
This anything-but-authoritative display against Iowa witnessed uneven play from the MSU roster. In the game's first 28 minutes, two Spartans--forward Delvon Roe and guard Korie Lucious--hit more shots (10) than the rest of the team combined (8). A pair of performers did step up when the rest of the rotation stumbled, but despite the win, Izzo has to be wondering when his entire team will bring its best stuff to the building on the same night.
 
The Michigan State coaching staff has to be very concerned about the trajectory of Kalin Lucas's season. The sparkplug of the MSU offense was held to just 4 points in this game on 2-of-6 shooting, which accounted for the home team's small margin of victory. Unless or until Lucas regains his early-season form and can break down defenses with regularity, State will be a relatively easy team to guard. Sure, the arrival of NCAA Tournament play will put MSU against opponents who aren't as familiar with Lucas's game, but Izzo and his assistants need to ensure that their main man at the point develops some confidence and consistency in the next few weeks.

MSU's concerns don't end with Lucas, however. Center Goran Suton did go 7-for-8 from the foul line in this game to give the Spartans a lift, but the Bosnian big man isn't impacting games as much as he should. In the backcourt, the once-dependable sniper, Durrell Summers--who led a January resurgence for this team--has faded into the background. The instant offense that used to give the Spartans a crucial boost has largely disappeared from Summers' profile. Iowa shut out the three-point marksman, yet another reason for MSU's somewhat disappointing 62-point total.
 
No one should be criticizing the modest scorelines of Travis Walton (3 points against the Hawkeyes) or Raymar Morgan (4 points), because the former player is a defensive specialist and the latter is still recovering from months of depleted health. Nevertheless, it still stands that a lot of Michigan State men are not performing up to their potential. Izzo might have bagged a crucial win against Iowa, but as much as this game moved MSU closer to its Big Ten goal, this kind of showing--if replicated in mid-March--will lead to a premature NCAA Tournament exit.
 
Good news and bad news currently coexist in East Lansing. How the Spartans fare in the next two weeks should say a lot about their postseason chances.

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