There was some speculation coming into the season on whether junior Matt Costello and sophomore Gavin Schilling could carry the load for MSU's big men. On Friday night, the Spartans were adamant about getting the ball in the paint through both players.
The No. 19 men's basketball team bounced back from a 10-point loss against No. 4 Duke on Tuesday with an 87-52 home victory over Loyola Chicago Friday night. Five Spartans reached double figure, led by senior forward Branden Dawson who had 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and freshman forward Marvin Clark Jr.
It’s not common for programs to have the success in both basketball and football that MSU has had, which makes it even less common for the two coaches of those teams to be as close as Tom Izzo and Mark Dantonio have become over the years.
March 27, 1999, will be remembered as one of the most disheartening nights for Spartan basketball. MSU was in the Final Four of the NCAA semifinals for the first time since their national championship in 1979, and lost to the No.
Men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo began his time with the Spartans 20 years ago. In this time, the program has had six Final Four appearances, 17 consecutive NCAA berths, an NCAA championship and much more.
Fouls and free throws were enough to sink the Spartans chances of bringing home a signature early season win.
The players on the basketball court will certainly provide an interesting matchup on Tuesday, but the chess match on the sidelines will be equally compelling and might decide the game.
When the men’s basketball team looks across the court at Bankers Life Fieldhouse for pregame introductions, they will already be down 9-1. No. 19 MSU (1-0 overall) faces off against No. 4 Duke (2-0 overall), who will dress nine McDonald’s All-Americans compared to MSU’s one Branden Dawson Tuesday night in Indianapolis, Indiana.
It was fitting that senior guard Travis Trice, after making the free throw to seal the victory, soared in the air to bring down the game-clinching rebound.
The No. 18-ranked men's basketball team is preparing to take on the Navy Midshipmen in what will be the opening game of the 2014-15 season. The game will mark the beginning of head coach Tom Izzo's 20th season at the helm in East Lansing.
If playing Division 1 college basketball is fun, playing Division 1 basketball with your childhood friend is almost indescribable.
The men's basketball team is in a stage of transition. The team must replace the production of former stars Adreian Payne, Keith Appling, and Gary Harris. Together, the three former MSU players combined to average 44.3 points of the team's 75.5 total average in the 2013-14 season.
Behind a strong performance by junior guard Denzel Valentine, the MSU basketball team cruised to an easy 101-46 victory over St. Cloud State on Friday night, finishing exhibition season with a 2-0 record. Valentine had a triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in 25 minutes of action. Senior guard Travis Trice led the Spartans with 20 points, and junior center Matt Costello and senior forward Branden Dawson each had double-doubles — 12 and 10 for Costello, and 13 and 10 for Dawson.
The last time he was at Breslin Center, Russell Byrd was wearing green and white and only himself to worry about. On Monday night, days after the birth of his first daughter with former MSU women’s basketball player Klarissa Bell, Byrd returned to Breslin Center for the first time since transferring from MSU to The Master's College in May.
The men’s basketball team opened its exhibition season at home on Monday night, but a player on the opposing team stole the show.
Despite the men’s basketball team entering the season with a lower preseason ranking than normal, head coach Tom Izzo had no shortage of excitement at media day on Tuesday.
It’s not common for a freshman to take up a leadership role, but Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr. risn’t your average freshman.
This season, senior guard Travis Trice and junior forward Denzel Valentine will be relied upon to provide a leadership presence the Spartans, at times, lacked last season.
Men's basketball coach Tom Izzo was optimistic at practice last Friday, citing strong leadership and chemistry as reasons why he believes this season will turn out better than expected.
There were plenty of new faces present at the first official 2014-15 men's basketball practice on Friday ? so many that head coach Tom Izzo acknowledged the lack of recognizable faces could be a reason why analysts are having trouble pegging how good the Spartans will be next season.