MSU men's basketball: Spartans 75, Gonzaga 71

EAST LANSING - Prime time came early for Michigan State this season, and for much of Tuesday evening it looked like the Spartans weren't quite ready for it.

As it turned out, Kalin Lucas was ready. Durrell Summers was ready. Even double-ankle-twisted Raymar Morgan was ready.

Those three put on sizzling displays of basketball skill and will to carry No. 2 MSU past Gonzaga, 75-71, in front of a screaming throng of 14,759 at Breslin Center.

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"I thought they punched us in the mouth, then picked us up off the ground and punched us again, then picked us up and punched us again early," MSU coach Tom Izzo said after his team trailed for most of the contest and by 13 points in the first half. "All in all I'm thrilled with the victory because we beat, I think, definitely a top-15 team, if not better."

Summers hit the tying layup with 3:39 left, the go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:03 left and the clinching free throws with 5.7 seconds left en route to a game-high 21 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

Morgan came off the bench with a sprained left ankle, sprained the right ankle in the first half but still bulled his way to 16 points.

"Maybe one of the more heroic performances I've seen since I've been here," Izzo said of Morgan. "It was just unbelievable."

And Lucas made the play of the night, a slicing drive and acrobatic finish on Gonzaga point guard Demetri Goodson with 39 seconds on the clock.

That gave MSU a 73-70 lead and Lucas the final word on Goodson - who had talked copious amounts of trash after stifling Lucas on the final possession of the first half.

Lucas, who finished the 19 points and five assists, took the chance to let Goodson know about it on a night full of pushing, grabbing and woofing.

"We're cool," Lucas said of Goodson, who had one point, splitting free throws with seven seconds left and Gonzaga down 73-71. "When we're on the floor I'm trying to go at him, he's trying to go at me, we're trying to get our teams the win. ... It's all love and fun at the end."

The gritty Bulldogs (1-1) almost took the fun away from a roaring crowd that Izzo said "definitely won the game for us." Mark Few's team had a 13-point lead in the first half and pushed it to 10 early in the second.

"It was just a terrific college basketball atmosphere," Few said. "For before Thanksgiving, I mean it felt like a game maybe that would clinch a championship in a league somewhere. ... I thought both teams rose up to the atmosphere."

Center Robert Sacre (17 points), freshman forward Elias Harris (17 points, nine rebounds) and senior star Matt Bouldin (15 points) did most of the damage for a team that lost four starters but has top-25 talent up and down the roster.

"We kind of let them bring it to us early," said Summers, who hit 8 of 9 shots. "We kind of changed it around in the second half."

A 16-9 run over six minutes finally got MSU (2-0) even. Summers scored inside off a Lucas pass, on a play drawn up by Izzo during a timeout. That tied it at 65 with 3:39 left.

Gonzaga regained the lead on Steven Gray free throws, but then Summers drained a 3-point bomb from the top of the key with 3:02 showing.

MSU would not trail again. The Spartans went up 71-67 after Chris Allen rebounded his own miss and fed Morgan, who converted a reverse layup.

It was down to 71-70 when Izzo called a timeout with 55 seconds left. He drew up a play for Lucas to drive on Goodson.

"You put the ball in his hands," Izzo said, "and he did what an All-American is supposed to do."

Draymond Green (six points, 10 rebounds) missed two free throws to leave the door open, but Summers provided the clinchers. After Lucas and Morgan provided the leadership.

"It's a great feeling," Morgan said. "The win's the most important thing, that's all I'm concerned about."