Winter break is a time for students to take a step away from their studies and prepare for the spring semester ahead. Although most students traveled home for the holidays, Michigan State Athletics remained in full swing.
Here is what you may have missed from the Spartans over break.
Men’s Basketball
Winter break kicked off with two non-conference challenges for the Spartans before shifting back to Big Ten play in the new year.
The Spartans took a break from their strenuous schedule to take on the Oakland Golden Grizzlies at home on Dec. 21, 2022. They struggled with turnovers early, but were able to regain control in the second half, coming away with a 67-54 win.
The green and white continued their non-conference stand at home with a 89-68 victory over the Buffalo Bulls on Dec. 30, 2022.
Four Spartans hit double digits, including senior forward Malik Hall who returned to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 18. 2022 after dealing with a foot injury and finished with 11 points.
Next on the schedule was a Big Ten battle against Nebraska at home.
Senior guard Tyson Walker lit up the floor against the Cornhuskers, scoring 21 points throughout the game — 16 in the first half alone. Defensively, the Spartans held Nebraska to just 17 points in the first half for a comfortable 74-56 win.
To close out winter break, the Spartans took on their rivals Michigan at home on Jan. 7. Hall and junior guard A.J. Hoggard gave quite the performance against the Wolverines, putting up 15 points each.
MSU was able to take down their rivals in an exciting 59-53 win at home.
Women’s Basketball
The women’s basketball team broke their five-game losing streak for an exhilarating break.
After closing out the fall semester with a narrow road loss to No. 3 Ohio State, the Spartans bounced back with two dominant back-to-back non-conference wins over Detroit Mercy and Prairie View A&M on Dec. 18 and 20, 2022, defeating the Titans 91-41 and the Panthers 98-50 and giving the team momentum as they returned to conference play.
MSU closed out the year with its best game yet — an 83-78 upset victory over No. 4 Indiana at home on Dec. 29, 2022, handing the Hoosiers their first loss of the season and logging their first Big Ten win.
The team then extended its win streak to four after a 71-64 road victory over Northwestern on Jan. 2.
They finished their break schedule on the road, fighting until the very end against No.13 Maryland.
The Spartans were trailing by 19 points going into the fourth quarter, but big plays from players like senior guard Moira Joiner kept them in the game until the very end.
Ultimately, MSU was unable to complete the comeback and fell to the Terrapins 71-64.
Hockey
In typical winter break fashion, MSU traveled to Grand Rapids for the 57th annual Great Lakes Invitational where the team took on Ferris State in the semi-final round on Dec. 27, 2022.
Ferris sent Michigan State to the locker room down 3-0 despite outshooting the Bulldogs 15-6.
A pair of goals from fifth-year defenseman Cole Krygier in the second brought the Spartans within one, but another power-play goal from FSU solidified the 4-2 loss for MSU.
The next day, Michigan State took on Michigan Tech University in the final game of the GLI and fell to the Huskies 2-3 in overtime, awarding the Spartans with last place in the tournament.
MSU moved back to conference play on the road against Ohio State University just before the start of the spring semester.
The Spartans gave up nine goals over the course of the series, and after sweeping the Buckeyes earlier in the series, OSU defeated Michigan State 3-1 and 6-0 to hand the Spartans their fourth and fifth consecutive losses.
