Sportsbooks Give Michigan State Edge Over Purdue With Lucas' Return

Sports News - February 9th, 2010 - Written By John Ritter

The bad news for Michigan State is the Big Ten is quickly catching up.

The good news is that it may be getting their most-prized reinforcement back in uniform Tuesday night as they try to stop the bleeding against no. 6 Purdue.

Kalin Lucas will likely be back after a one-and-a-half-game break caused by an ankle injury suffered against Wisconsin. The Spartans lost that game, and then another afterwards, and are in danger of it's first three-game losing streak since February of 2007.

The Boilermakers travel to Lansing for a game that could propel them to the top of the conference standings. They are in fifth place, but beating Michigan State would put them in a tie with Wisconsin, Ohio State and Illinois just a half-game out of first place.

BedED has the Spartans favored by 2 1/2, according to college basketball betting lines, with a 139-point total. The home team has won each of the last seven meetings, and nine of the last 10. But Michigan State has stumbled in early week games lately, failing to cover the spread in 21 of it's last 26 Tuesday night games.

It would rather that not happen again after losing two-straight for the first time all season last week. It lost to conference-rival Wisconsin last Tuesday and then Illinois on Friday without the help of leading-scorer, Lucas, who is also the reigning conference player of the year.

Lucas is one of four Spartans to average over 10 points per game, but it was Draymond Green who picked up the slack in his absence. He scored 17 points and doubled his rebound average with 16 against Illinois, but the rest of the team committed 18 turnovers and the Illini shot over 52-percent.

"It is completely up in the air, still," State head coach Tom Izzo said about Lucas' possible return. "I think he feels more like he's going to be able to play some...He's getting treatments almost all day long in between classes. It's improving."

Purdue knows a little something about losing streaks after dropping three-straight in mid-January. It has failed to cover the spread in six of it's last eight games, although the final score has been favorable lately. After that brief skid, the Boilermakers bounced back to win five-in-a-row, including wins over Wisconsin and Illinois.

E'Twaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson and Robbie Hummel all average over 15 points per game and they were the main scorers in their last win against Indiana. But it was Johnson who did most of the damage, pouring home 21 points, and defended well with nine rebounds and four blocks. Purdue hopes Johnson can get to at least eight points again because when he does, it is 18-0.

"Anytime it's a rivalry game, you definitely stay focused," said Moore. "We definitely weren't looking ahead. We knew it was going to be a hostile environment. We knew it was going to be a tough game."

Purdue has the eighth-best turnover ratio in the nation, but the slower pace of the league puts it at only 65th in points per game. That is still only four places south of Michigan State, who averages 75.2.

The point total in 13 of the last 16 meetings has stayed below the Mendoza line, and the Spartans have kept 16 of their last 22 conference games under.