Lucas has hot second half as No. 11 Michigan State pulls away and routs No. 25 Northwestern

Lucas, Summers lead Spartans over Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. — Kalin Lucas scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half Saturday night and No. 11 Michigan State pulled away and routed No. 25 Northwestern 91-70.

Michigan State (11-3) used its speed, depth and a 12-0 run to build a big second-half lead and win its Big Ten opener.

Northwestern (10-3, 0-2) lost its second straight since breaking into the Top 25 for the first time since 1969.

Durrell Summers and Raymar Morgan added 17 points each for the Spartans, who shot 57 percent for the game.

John Shurna led Northwestern with 29 points, tying his career high.

Morgan hit a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer to cap a 14-3 run as the Spartans took a 41-33 lead. During the closing spurt, Summers hit two from the line, Chris Allen drove for a basket, Draymond Green got inside for two baskets and Lucas canned a jumper as Michigan State showed its versatility.

Summers had 14 points in the opening half, including a pair of spectacular dunks and a pair of 3-pointers. He shot 5 for 7 and also had six rebounds.

Northwestern, averaging 10 3-pointers made and 28 attempted per game, was 5 for 15 in the opening half and finished the game 9 for 26.

The Spartans pushed their halftime lead to 13 points seven minutes into the second half as Korie Lucious hit a 3-pointer and Northwestern began to struggle from the field and the line.

Lucas, who came off the bench in the Spartans’ previous game against Texas-Arlington because coach Tom Izzo was not pleased with his leadership, then drove through the middle for a layup. And after an offensive rebound came his way after a missed dunk, Lucas hit a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 61-43 with just under 11 minutes to play.

Michigan State is now 20-2 in last 22 games against Northwestern, even though the Wildcats won the previous meeting 70-63 last January in East Lansing. That victory came behind 31 points from Kevin Coble, who is out for the season with a foot injury.