Michigan State overcomes injuries to defeat Northern Iowa, 59-52

Reporting from St. Louis — 

Northern Iowa was embraced as the NCAA tournament’s Cinderella after knocking out top-ranked Kansas. But it took just one look at Michigan State’s bench to see which team was the real underdog.

Spartans starting point guard Kalin Lucas wore his warmup clothes and a boot on his foot, using crutches to assist him on and off the court after tearing his Achilles’ tendon in a second-round victory against Maryland. Michigan State also played with two banged up starters in Delvon Roe and Chris Allen.

But in the Sweet 16 on Friday night, they overcame all of that and a pro-Northern Iowa crowd at Edward Jones Dome for a 59-52 victory against the ninth-seeded Panthers.

The fifth-seeded Spartans will play sixth-seeded Tennessee — an earlier winner against second-seeded Ohio State — on Sunday in the Elite Eight.

“I can’t say enough about the character of these guys,” said Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo, who is making his seventh Elite Eight trip.

The Spartans, who are trying to get back to the national championship game they lost to North Carolina last season, needed a second-half rally to overcome a seven-point deficit to the Panthers. After the game was tied, 51-51, Michigan State used a 6-0 run in the final two minutes to pull ahead for good.

No stunning three-pointer for the Panthers this time.

Durrell Summers led the Spartans with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Korie Lucious — starting in place of Lucas — scored 10 points with six rebounds.

Northern Iowa started the game with a 7-0 run and led through much of the first half. Kwadzo Ahelegbe hit a long jump shot to end the half with a 29-22 Panthers lead.

They shot 52.2% from the floor in the first half, holding Michigan State to just seven-for-22 shooting.

“We looked a little discombobulated,” Izzo said.

The Spartans came out of halftime on fire, going on a 21-8 run for a 43-37 lead. They made eight of their first nine shots in the second half.

Northern Iowa made some key runs to take the lead back, 46-44, with less than eight minutes remaining. They fell behind again, but tied the game, 51-51, with 2:51 to go. The Spartans used a 6-0 run in the final 2:18 to pull ahead.

Adam Koch led Northern Iowa with 13 points and Ahelegbe contributed 12 points.

This was the best run in Panthers’ history.

sryan@tribune.com