Matt Charboneau
The Detroit News
East Lansing -- While the overall performance was not one Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was happy with, the role played by Delvon Roe was worthy of an encore.
Early on Tuesday night, Roe was playing a role onstage. However, it was the part he played for the Spartans basketball team that might have been the real show-stealer.
The junior forward sparked a sloppy Michigan State team in the first half on his way to 15 points and five rebounds in the No. 2 Spartans' 82-73 victory over South Carolina at the Breslin Center.
"In Delvon's case, it was definitely his best half," Izzo said. "You can see where he's more explosive and he put the ball on the floor a little better and did some good things defensively."
Last year, Roe became a theater major, and on Tuesday, he had an especially busy day. At 7:30 p.m., he played the role of Charles the Wrestler in Shakespeare's "As You Like It" at the Wharton Center on Michigan State's campus. At 10:10 p.m., he was on the floor as the Spartans tipped off with the Gamecocks.
It was a hectic few hours for the 6-foot-8 forward and aspiring thespian. He left the team's shoot-around early to get to the theater by 6 p.m. He then put on his makeup and got into costume for the first performance of his life. By 8 p.m., he was showering and on his way to the basketball arena.
"I was shaking like a pin," Roe said of the performance. "I was very nervous but had a really good performance."
But by the time the game began, Roe showed he was no worse for wear, scoring 10 first-half points while grabbing three rebounds and handing out three assists. It was the type of performance Izzo has been predicting for Roe, who played his first two seasons battling several injuries, including a torn meniscus in his knee during last season's NCAA Tournament.
"I'm just healthy," Roe said, explaining why he is playing so well. "I've always been confident in my ability, but I knew I had to come with a focus and take it to a different level because of how much I've been going back and forth. If I didn't play well, it probably would have been brought up. But (Izzo) was very supportive of me leaving to do that. I knew I had to come out here and have a good game just because of the appreciation and support he had for me to go do stuff like that."
But Roe wasn't the only star of the show on the court. Senior guard Durrell Summers scored 22 points and helped ignite a late first-half run that put the Spartans (2-0) in control of the game.
With Michigan State leading 22-21 with 7:30 to play in the half, Draymond Green fed Summers for an alley-oop, a play that brought the crowd to its feet and seemed to breathe life into the Spartans.
The play helped Michigan State close the first half on a 20-4 run to take a 42-25 lead into halftime.
"The run happened, the crowd got into it and we didn't handle it very well," South Carolina coach Darrin Horn said.
But the Gamecocks (1-1) fought back in the second half, pressing the Spartans and forcing turnovers while heating up from 3-point range. Behind almost 40 percent shooting from long-range, South Carolina cut Michigan State's lead to single digits early in the second half and surged again by cutting it to 68-60 with 4:16 to play in the game.
And when Bruce Ellington buried a 3-pointer with just more than two minutes to play, Michigan State's lead was cut to 71-65.
"Shocked," Izzo said when he was asked what his reaction was to how his guards played. "They took it at us and we didn't handle it very well."
The Spartans committed 19 turnovers with five coming from guard Korie Lucious, who was playing his first game after being suspended for the opener.
"We had five turnovers at halftime and ended up with 19," Izzo said. "They were some of the most ungodly turnovers I've ever seen."
But Michigan State settled down late and finally started making some free throws, and when Austin Thornton hit a 3-pointer with 1:10 left to make it 76-66, the game was all but over.
"I'm proud of our effort in the second half," Horn said. "I don't know if we'll play a better team in a better environment than we did tonight."
Michigan State was just 17-for-34 from the free-throw line, but Green hit six straight in the final minute to finish with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
"We just said today that we're going to put in an extra session to come in here and just shoot," said Summers, who was 5-for-8 from the line, "because down the road, that can hurt us."
The Spartans got a scare midway through the second half when guard Kalin Lucas limped off the court favoring his left leg. It turned out to be a minor ankle sprain, but considering Lucas ruptured his Achilles during last season's NCAA Tournament, it quieted the Breslin Center immediately.
But after taking his shoe off and stretching his leg, he returned to the game and finished with almost 30 minutes of playing time.
"It was nothing major, I just rolled it," said Lucas, who claimed the injury scared him for a split second. "It was the first time rolling my left ankle and when it first happened I just looked down to make sure it was cool. It rolled quick, but I stopped it from rolling all the way."
Slam dunks
