College Basketball Corner

Kalin Lucas took command of the huddle during a Michigan State timeout with 7:17 remaining, pleading for his teammates to calm down, to maintain their poise. The only problem was, in the waning moments of Michigan State’s 78-73 loss to Illinois on Saturday night, he wasn’t able to take the same command on the court.

Lucas, with a sprained ankle, had to sit and watch as Demetri McCamey hit six three’s (finishing with 22 points), including one with 37 seconds left that made it a two possession game and forced Michigan State to foul. When he wasn’t draining jumpers, McCamey was dishing out dimes, and he finished with 11 on the night.

Tom Izzo even admitted that McCamey was “twice the player” that he was when he played up in Lansing on Jan. 16. There’s no doubt that McCamey has been integral to the Illini success as of late, which includes four conference wins in a row, one of which was a barn burner a week ago against Indiana (McCamey hit the winning shot at the buzzer).

On the other side, there’s no doubt that the Spartans are missing the heroics of senior-leader Kalin Lucas, who has stepped up in the clutch all season. On Saturday, there was simply a missing ingredient that neither Chris Allen’s nor Derrell Summers’ pure shooting could compensate for, and that ingredient was number 1, Kalin Lucas.

Of course, Bruce Weber and the Illini could care less who the fifth-ranked Spartans had on the floor, as their win moved them to within one game of Michigan State in the Big Ten standings and sitting on the right side of the bubble. If the young guards D.J. Richardson (14 pts. vs. MSU) and Brandon Paul (8 vs. MSU) can maintain their poise and continue to be consistent contributors, Illinois could be dangerous down the road.

Michigan State has dropped two in a row, as they also lost to Wisconsin on Tuesday night (the game in which Kalin Lucas sprained his ankle). And with seventh-ranked Purdue coming to town on Tuesday night, the Spartans must bounce back quickly if they hope to hold their place atop the Big Ten standings. Fortunately for Michigan State, Kalin Lucas should be back in the lineup on Tuesday.

Illinois is not the only team nipping at the heels of the Spartans in the Big Ten standings, as Wisconsin and Ohio State are also only one game off pace.

Ohio State (no. 13 in AP) is building momentum with every decisive win, and they just might be the best team in the Big Ten right now. Over the past week, they have trounced Minnesota (won by 22 on Jan. 31), Penn State (won by 13 on Feb. 3), and Iowa (won by 10 on Feb. 7).

The Buckeyes feature four players in Turner, Buford, Lighty, and Diebler who average in double-figures, and it is this balance that will make Ohio State a legitimate contender in March.

Wisconsin (no. 16 in AP) is yet another Big Ten team that is in the thick of the conference title race. Their wins over the past week have been by 18 apiece, including a 67-49 romping of Michigan State on Feb. 2, and a similarly dominant 62-44 win over Michigan on Feb. 6.

The Badgers are a team that can flat out shoot the basketball, but their reliance on the long ball might be their Achilles heel come tournament time.

The Purdue Boilermakers (no. 8 in AP) have three losses, all of which came in a weeklong stretch in conference play. Since then, they have torn off five wins against conference foes to advance to 7-3 in the Big Ten.

In the past week, the Boilermakers have chalked up two wins, although the second on Thursday, Jan. 4, was hardly easy. Then again, there haven’t been many easy games in the Big Ten this year.

On Thursday night, the Boilermakers traveled down to Bloomington to take on in-state rival Indiana. The Hoosiers are a team that has been able to play with more talented teams a few times this year, and this would be one of those times. Verdell Jones stepped up big for the Hoosiers, netting 22 points and hitting seemingly all the crucial shots.

There simply was no answer for Robbie Hummel or JaJuan Johnson, who had 21 points apiece. In the end, it was missed free throws and poor shot selection that did the Hoosiers in, as they fell 78-75.

Moving outside of the Big Ten, there have been a number of interesting outcomes over the past week.

South Florida picked up two improbable wins in one week, beating Pittsburgh (no. 22 in AP) on Sunday Jan. 31, and Georgetown (no. 7 in AP) on Wednesday Feb. 3.

Against Georgetown, Dominique Jones absolutely went off for the Bulls, scoring 22 of his 29 points in the second half to bring his team back from a 6-point half-time deficit to win 72-64. This was against a stout Georgetown team playing at home, a team that had handled tenth-ranked Duke just a few days earlier and would go on to knock of second-ranked Villanova on Saturday.

Speaking of that Georgetown-Villanova matchup, it was almost bizarre to see a team that had been playing as well as Villanova get systematically dismantled in the way that they did.

Behind a 25-point performance from Austin Freeman and a 24-point performance from Jason Clark, the Hoyas put up 103 on the Wildcats, who were previously unbeaten in Big East play.

The Wildcats surrendered their lead in the Big East standings to Syracuse, but have the opportunity to bounce back in a big way against West Virginia on Monday night. Expect Scottie Reynolds and his group to take full advantage.

What West Virginia was able to accomplish on Saturday doesn’t happen very often. The Mountaineers appeared as if they decided to turn it on in the second half, outscoring St. Johns 57-37 in the second half to over come an 11-point half time deficit. De’Sean Butler went a perfect 7-7 from behind the arc.

In ACC action, tenth-ranked Duke responded from an 89-77 loss at Georgetown with a resounding 86-67 win over Georgia Tech (no. 21 in AP) on Feb. 4. Kyle Singler, with a wrist injury and all, hit eight three’s against the Yellow Jackets to carry his team.

Duke was able to eek out a less impressive 66-63 win over Boston College on Saturday Feb. 6. This might just be another one of those years for Duke, as they lack a true threat on the low block.

In a Big 12 matchup on Saturday, Feb. 6, Texas’ struggles continued with an inexplicably poor performance from the line. They have not been a good free throw shooting team all year, but they shot 10-27 from the line on Saturday. There is still a whole lot to salvage for Texas, but they have the top team in the nation, Kansas, coming to town on Monday night.

The regular season is starting to wind down, and teams only have a handful of games left to separate themselves from the pack. There’s still a lot to prove for so many teams, and the next few weeks will be the time to prove it.