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Michigan State Basketball: Can Spartans rally after major injury like 2009-10?

By Connor Muldowney

Jan 29, 2017; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans huddle up prior to a game against the Michigan Wolverines at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 29, 2017; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans huddle up prior to a game against the Michigan Wolverines at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports /
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Can Michigan State basketball rally after the Eron Harris injury like the Spartans did in 2009-10 after Kalin Lucas went down?

No, I’m not comparing teams, but the situations are quite similar to this year’s Michigan State basketball squad and that from 2009-10. How so? They both lost veteran leadership at a crucial point in the season.

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Let’s flash it back about seven years. The Spartans finished the regular season 24-7 and lost in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament to fall to 24-8 before the NCAA Tournament. They were disappointed to find out they earned just a No. 5 seed, but they were ready to prove doubters wrong.

The Spartans played 12th-seeded New Mexico State in the first round and snuck out of that contest with a slim three-point victory.

Advancing to play No. 4 Maryland wasn’t going to be easy, but this team was deep and extremely talented. However, Kalin Lucas went down with an injury and the junior point guard would be ruled out for the rest of the tourney. All hope seemed to be lost, but Korie Lucious stepped in.

Lucious wound up hitting the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer against Maryland to send Michigan State to the Sweet 16 and the team rallied after losing Lucas. The Spartans made it all the way to the Final Four (surprisingly) before losing to Butler, 52-50, on a controversial no-call as Draymond Green was hit on the arm while shooting the potential game-tying jumper.

Moral of the story? Any team can rally no matter the magnitude of the injury as long as they’re close-knit and believe in each other.

It seems sappy, but it’s true, and Tom Izzo feels the same way about the team rallying after the Eron Harris injury.

That team was given zero shot to make a run in 2009-10 after Lucas went down. He was the top scorer and the leader of the team. However, the Spartans picked each other up, didn’t dwell and made it all the way to the Final Four.

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Harris may not be the same type of player for the Spartans as Lucas was in 2009-10, but that could be a good thing. While it’s a tough loss, it’s not the end of the season and this team has enough talent to rally after this injury.

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