Butler's Gordon Hayward (20) goes up with a shot past Michigan State players Raymar Morgan, left, Draymond Green, center, and Chris Allen during the second half of a men's NCAA Final Four semifinal college basketball game Saturday, April 3, 2010, in Indianapolis. At bottom left is Avery Jukes.

AP photo

INDIANAPOLIS — Michigan State was an unexpected Final Four participant after fighting through injuries to several key players.

The Spartans won't surprise anyone next season.

Only one key player, Raymar Morgan, was a senior on a team that lost to Butler in the NCAA semifinals on Saturday. If the wounded heal properly, hopes will be sky high.

The expectations willingly start in Michigan State's locker room, especially now that the young players have significant postseason experience.

"It leaves us to work harder," sophomore Draymond Green said. "We have to go back and take a look in the mirror, realize who we are, how to do the things right that you need to do to win a championship. I mean, I just take this as a learning experience. It's going to make us work that much harder to get here and finish the deal."

They might have finished it this year with a full deck.

Point guard Kalin Lucas ruptured the Achilles' tendon in his left foot in the second round of the NCAA tournament and missed the rest of the run to the Final Four. He was the Big Ten's player of the year in 2009, when he led the Spartans to the national championship game.

Forward Delvon Roe will have surgery on his painful right knee now that the season is over. The sophomore averaged 6.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, despite meniscus cartilage damaged so badly that playing on it couldn't make it any worse.

Guard Chris Allen was playing on a strained arch in his right foot that he injured in the first-round NCAA tournament win over New Mexico State. He averaged 8.2 points per game this season.

The injuries and foul trouble caught up with the Spartans against Butler. Roe had four points and four rebounds in 24 minutes and Allen went scoreless in 16 minutes.

"I mean, Delvon Roe is playing on one leg," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "If I was ever prouder of a guy in my life, I don't know who it would be. You know, Chris Allen just couldn't go. We just didn't have enough weapons left."

For Izzo, taking a team to the Final Four for the sixth time in 12 seasons, the loss was a learning experience as well.

"We just couldn't get in rhythm with anything," he said. "That's not the team's fault. I mean, I guess if I learn something, no matter how much depth you have, you better continue to create more depth. You never know when injuries will happen."

After losing to Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament, the Spartans won their first four NCAA tournament games by a combined 13 points, the lowest total for a Final Four team since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Lucas' injury gave Korie Lucious a chance to prove himself. He hit the game-winner against Maryland, and was steady throughout the NCAA tournament. Junior guard Durrell Summers emerged as a big-time scorer, averaging 18.8 points in the NCAA tournament.

"I don't know what the better choice of words are, but I was on Durrell's case a lot of the year, and I couldn't be prouder of kid right now for what he did," Izzo said.

Green, a sophomore, was the Big Ten's sixth man of the year and was a third-team all-conference choice after averaging nearly 10 points and seven rebounds per game.

Freshman center Derrick Nix, a load at 6-8 and 280 pounds, is back as well.

The returning players have a painful loss to motivate them heading into the offseason.

"It's a terrible feeling," Roe said. "Last year, we played North Carolina (in the final), and knew they were better than you on the court. This year, it is going to be tough to swallow because we knew we're better than them."

The Spartans overcame disciplinary issues as well. Izzo kicked Lucas out of one practice, and suspended Allen during the Big Ten tournament and Lucious for a game at Penn State.

"We've been through a lot, some stuff not being known," Green said. "But we did great things, not exactly how we wanted to finish. Just have to get back and take about a week or so off and let our bodies regroup and get back to working. I think we have enough coming back, enough coming in, to where we can get back here if we do the things right."