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EAST LANSING - From freshman to sophomore, support player to star, sprinter to distance hurdler, Kalin Lucas has made a significant transition at Michigan State.
He was the cuddly little guy who could put on a show last season. He has the burden of running it this season. And that extra mental weight showed at times in November and December.
"My play wasn't good when we first started," Lucas said.
It isn't good now, either. It's much better than that. Lucas' game is thriving and up for today's test at Breslin Center - defending national champ Kansas and its own reserve-turned-headliner point guard, junior Sherron Collins.
If watching the No. 8 Spartans (12-2) and Jayhawks (11-3) today, try to keep up with Lucas and Collins as they jet up and down the floor. It's the game's best matchup.
And Lucas is the best explanation for how the Spartans have started to play up to their preseason billing. His assertiveness and the healthy return of senior center Goran Suton from a knee injury have turned things around in the past three weeks.
"He's kind of rounded into the player, midway through the year, that I thought he'd be," MSU coach Tom Izzo said of Lucas, who is averaging 20.3 points a game in three Big Ten wins.
In the past four games, Lucas is shooting 50 percent from the floor (24 of 48) and 64.3 percent (9 of 14) from 3-point range. He was sitting at 33.3 percent and 26.3 percent, respectively, in the season's first 10 games.
And he still leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.94-to-1).
But those are just numbers. Lucas looks like he knows exactly what he wants to do now.
"I'm just playing with more confidence," he said. "I know I can play this game. I'm playing with more aggression and more passion."
As a freshman, Lucas started half the season and ran the point, but still deferred in many ways to Drew Neitzel and Travis Walton. He blew by defenders and made plays.
This season, even with Walton beside him often, Lucas has been asked by Izzo to lead. Typical stuff for a team's starting point guard and most talented player.
But while focusing on his vocal presence and his grasp of the offense and his ability to get others involved, it appeared Lucas passed up chances to do what he does best: attack.
"Some games he was maybe not as aggressive, some he was," said MSU assistant coach and former point guard Mark Montgomery. "He's getting better at it. ... Guards have got to be extensions of coaches on the floor."
Pied piper of the hardwood
A film session with Izzo provided a key moment. Lucas was able to see that when he pushed the ball with purpose, his teammates responded in kind.
MSU's win over Oklahoma State on Nov. 28, following up a dismal loss to Maryland, provided some evidence. Lucas ran relentlessly in that game, resulting in 12 points and 10 assists for him and 94 points for his team.
"When I go, they go," Lucas said.
"Yeah, that's the concept," Izzo said.
But Lucas was not a major factor in MSU's 98-63 loss to North Carolina a few days later. He ran the offense effectively but did not attack much in a game that was billed as a showdown between Lucas and Tar Heels guard Ty Lawson.
His play has sharpened significantly since then. So here's another test.
Kansas lost seven key players from last season's national title team, including five who were drafted by the NBA: Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson and Sasha Kaun.
The Jayhawks have talent, though, with a heralded seven-man recruiting class and two of last season's contributors: Collins and sophomore center Cole Aldrich.
Collins (17.6 points a game) is a speedy, muscle-bound guard in the mold of Lawson, except that "he's a much better shooter," said Walton.
Walton and others will spend some time checking Collins, but in the open court Lucas and Collins will sprint with each other and leave knowing the flavor of "each other's gum," Izzo said.
It's not a one-on-one thing. But it is a personal barometer for Lucas, and Izzo wants Lucas to see it as a challenge.
"I do now, and I probably wouldn't have said that last year," Izzo said. "The reason I do now is because I think he can handle it."
Contact Joe Rexrode at 377-1070.
