Keith Appling

[...] Further compounding the problem has been the struggles of team leader Kalin Lucas, who got injured at the end of last season, and who has been noticably hobbled all season. Lucas nevertheless leads the team in scoring, as is the case every year, using his transition ability and use of screens to get open for jumpshots and into the paint, a high IQ undersized scorer that doesn't have to resort to calling 1-4 sets all the time. Lucas has been stuck on full-on scorer's mode all season, by design and quite correctly, forgoing point guard play other than to get the ball over halfcourt and start moving it around. He has been effective at doing this, even with the gimpiness, pouring in 17.2 points per game with 39% three point shooting, both very respectable numbers. But perhaps without the injury, he probably could have cracked 20. (Welcome guard relief came in the form of freshman Keith Appling, who was billed initially as a scoring guard, but who quickly emerged as a defensive presence as well. A combination of the tenacious D, plus the 40% three point shooting, plugged a huge gap in the Spartans lineup and went a long way to restoring their season.)