Illinois at Wisconsin

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Lucas back in the mix

Te'Jon Lucas' suspension has run its course. The sophomore point guard was held out against both Iowa and Nebraska but will rejoin the team today at Wisconsin. Illini coach Brad Underwood said the Milwaukee native would be available "as needed." Lucas' return plus Mark Smith getting healthy after being hit as hard as any Illini by the flu puts Illinois' guard depth back at full strength. Lucas is averaging 5.8 points and 3.2 assists per game and leads the Illini in the latter along with his 1.48 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Stop turning the ball over

Underwood was pleased with several aspects of Monday night's game at Nebraska. The Cornhuskers made just 16 shots against Illinois' halfcourt defense. The Illini also finished the game with a 46-29 rebounding advantage. Even so, it was another Big Ten loss, but not a loss Underwood put solely on James Palmer Jr. hitting a wild, buzzer-beating game winner. "The game was decided literally by our live ball turnovers," Underwood said. "They had six breakaway dunks. Those are the things that get frustrating. You can't commit those turnovers, and we've got to continue to grow and learn in that area."

Finding their Happ-y place

Wisconsin coach Greg Gard has called Ethan Happ the Badgers' "second-best point guard" with D'Mitrik Trice recovering from his foot injury and at least back at practice heading into today's game. Whatever you call Happ, Wisconsin's offense is going to run through him, as he ranks seventh in the nation in percentage of possessions used. "They know who exactly is going to touch the ball," Underwood said. "They've been dinged up with injuries and that's magnified the load on Happ, but he has shown his overall skill set. He's bringing the ball up the court. He's initiating. They're playing into a post with him. He's going to touch the ball on just about every trip. You've got to guard that and protect that because he's really good."



Forget for a moment that the last time Illinois won at Wisconsin, the Illini's current freshmen were still in the sixth grade. Now's as good an opportunity as ever for the Illini to pull off a rare road win at the Kohl Center because these are not the same Badgers as the ones that have finished in the top four in the Big Ten each of the last 15 seasons. Illinois will obviously have to account for Ethan Happ, but the Badgers are still vulnerable at home. Xavier, Marquette and Ohio State have proven that this season.

 

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Michigan State hopes to grow...

Michigan State hopes to grow...

Michigan State hopes to grow through newfound adversity as Indiana comes to town


Three days earlier, Michigan's Moritz Wagner had lifted a finger to his lips to silence the Michigan State crowd, en route to a career game and an upset Wolverines win.

As sat on the sideline at the Breslin Center on Tuesday afternoon, facing the floor where the Spartans had suffered that defeat and that gleeful gesture from Wagner, Cassius Winston stated the obvious.

"Everything's not all peaches and roses right now," the Michigan State sophomore point guard said. "We're fighting out of the doghouse. We're grinding, and I think it's good for us, getting back to those roots, getting back to that summer grind, going out there with something to prove. We've got that chip back on our shoulder."

That's the silver lining Spartans players are taking from their subpar performance last week as they move forward to a Friday night game against Indiana .


After everything seeming came easy in December and early January, when Michigan State won 14 straight games and rose to No. 1 I the national polls, Spartans players said a little adversity can lead to a helpful mindset change.

"That's what great teams do, they play through adversity, they get better through adversity," Miles Bridges said. "Other teams, they go down."


Spartans coach Tom Izzo said he thinks adversity can help Michigan State "a lot." He doesn't think his team got cocky as it won 14 straight games by an average of more than 28 points apiece, but brought up the possibility that some players became complacent.

"I just don't think we're playing with the same sense of urgency, and I don't think it's anything that we think we're better than we are," Izzo said. "I think it's something that just comes with having a lot of success."

Winston pointed to himself first as a key player to get the Spartans back to playing well, in terms of both his leadership and his on-court play.

"I'm the leader on this team, it's my job to get these guys going, it's my job to get them back to the standard that they were at," Winston said. "A lot of that falls on me. I have to get back to the standard I was playing at to help this team also."

Following the loss to Michigan - the Spartans' second loss in a week, after falling to Ohio State last Sunday - the Spartans had a full five days off in which it mostly focused on itself in practice.

It now moves on to play an Indiana (11-7, 4-2) team that has had its share of struggles in its first season under Archie Miller, most notably in home losses to Indiana State and Fort Wayne by 20-plus points in November and December.


But it comes to Breslin Center on a three-game win streak, having beaten Minnesota, Penn State and Northwestern.

Izzo highlighted the play of Hoosiers junior forward Juwan Morgan, who is averaging 15.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

Spartans forward Nick Ward said he'll be tasked with slowing down Morgan, and said the key is to respect his ability as a 3-point shooter and post-up player.

"He can shoot the 3, so I've just got to stay up on him," Ward said.