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Lucas, Michigan State continue roll on road at Iowa

Jan 30, 2009 - 4:23 AM IOWA CITY, Iowa (Ticker) -- Kalin Lucas helped Michigan State exorcise some of the bad memories from its previous trip to Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Lucas scored 24 points and Durrell Summers added 21 as ninth-ranked Michigan State rolled to a 71-56 victory over Iowa on Thursday.

Improving to 5-0 on the road in the Big Ten Conference, the Spartans' latest strong effort away from home helped deal with a 43-36 upset loss here last year - one of the most embarrassing setbacks in the 14-year tenure of coach Tom Izzo.

In that game, Michigan State set a school record for the least number of points since the introduction of the shot clock. Lucas played a major role in that ineptitude, failing to score on 0-of-8 shooting over 20 minutes.

"We haven't won here very much the last couple of years, which is why we gave this a lot of attention," Izzo said. "I know in some people's minds, Iowa has struggled a little bit, but not at home."

In this one, the sophomore guard finished 9-of-13 from the field in tying a career high in points. He also continued a hot stretch in which he has scored at least 20 in each of his last three games.

Summers also extended his hot hand, coming off a 26-point effort in Sunday's 78-67 win at Ohio State.

The Spartans (17-3, 7-1 Big Ten) took control from the start, scoring the opening eight points. The Hawkeyes did close within 13-8 behind a pair of 3-pointers by freshman Matt Gatens, but Michigan State came back with a 10-2 run to open a 13-point lead - the same advantage it had at halftime.

That lead was quickly extended after intermission, as the Spartans were able to get out in transition.

"We got our running game going, got out to a good start," Izzo said. "As I said, we've still got a long way to go and I think we can get a lot better."

While Izzo sees his team needing more improvement, the Spartans are off to their best start on the road in the Big Ten since joining the conference in 1950.

Travis Walton hit a pull-up jumper in the open court with 18:12 left for a 42-26 cushion, Lucas hit a jumper and completed a layup off a steal by Goran Suton and Summers added another jump shot off a steal by Lucas to push it to 48-28.

Michigan State would later take its largest lead of the game at 50-28 on a jumper by Walton with 15:21 to play.

"I don't know about you but I felt that all I saw was a green blur going past us at a high speed," Iowa coach Todd Lickliter said. "We told the guys about it and we showed it on the tapes but you can't completely understand that kind of speed until you encounter it and play it on the court."

The Hawkeyes did make things interesting with an 18-6 burst, closing within 61-52 on a 3-pointer by Jermain Davis with 5:54 remaining. But Summers came off a screen to hit a jumper and also completed a fast-break layup after Walton knocked the ball away on a drive by Iowa's Jeff Peterson to make it 65-52 with 4:45 left.

Walton scored seven points and Suton added six and 11 rebounds for the Spartans, who finished 52 percent (27-of-52) from the field and with a 35-28 advantage on the boards.

Michigan State did play its third game without the full services of second-leading scorer Raymar Morgan, who has been dealing with the flu. Freshman Delvon Roe started in Morgan's place, scoring only one point but pulling down 10 rebounds.

Peterson scored 14 points and Gatens 13 for the Hawkeyes (12-9, 2-6), who lost for the fifth time in their last six games.

"I thought there were times that we played well and times that we showed resiliency," Lickliter said. "There were definitely some things tonight that we can build on. Looking at our Big Ten record, it may not be where we want it to be but when you look at our level of play, I think our play shows progress."

Jarryd Cole chipped in 10 points and eight boards for Iowa, which played its fifth game without top big man Cyrus Tate due to a high-ankle sprain.