Branden Dawson has developed a reputation for making crowds gasp from seeing his highlight reel dunks and athleticism at both ends of the floor. Yet on Sunday, the sophomore guard made the Breslin Center crowd gasp for a different reason.
Saturday night, the MSU hockey team took a collective sigh of relief. After winning only one of the past 10 games — two of which were ties — the Spartans (6-13-3 overall, 5-10-1-0 CCHA) headed into this weekend against No.
In the moments after Tom Izzo had left the podium, the Spartans’ head coach still shook his head baffled. How could his guards shoot a combined 4-for-26? And, equally perplexing, how could his team still find a way to win?
Despite a late comeback, the MSU gymnastics team lost to Western Michigan, 193.5-192.725, Saturday night in the Spartan’s season opener at Jenison Field House.
The MSU wrestling team had a tough weekend as they lost to North Carolina and Clarion on Saturday and No. 1 Penn State on Sunday.
Last Friday, the Council of Graduate Students, or COGS, announced an upcoming trip to watch MSU’s annual hockey game against rival University of Michigan on Feb. 2 at Joe Louis Arena, in Detroit. COGS will be providing 200 tickets to graduate students for $7 each. The ticket also will include free transportation to Detroit and back, if the student chooses.
The MSU women’s swimming and diving team did not get the new year off to a good start as they dropped their first two home meets of the spring semester on back to back days this weekend.
After a tough road win against Iowa last week, the No. 22 MSU men’s basketball team (13-3 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) returned home Sunday night with many expecting a slight reprieve.
The Spartans hung on late to close out a win in their first road game of the Big Ten season Sunday evening, knocking off Illinois 79-75. Though the up-and-down pace favored the high-scoring Illini for most of the game, the balanced scoring and defensive disposition of the MSU women’s basketball team prevailed in Champaigne, Ill.
MSU men’s basketball team takes on Nebraska tonight at Breslin Center. Follow our live blog below with coverage from State News men’s basketball reporter Dillon Davis.
After eight periods of hockey without a single goal, the MSU hockey team (6-13-3-5 overall, 5-10-0 CCHA) kept reiterating the goals eventually would come.
Hockey, like many sports, is a game that can be considered a “game of inches.” As MSU hockey (5-13-3 overall, 4-10-1-0 CCHA) senior forward Chris Forfar put it, an inch in one direction can make the game work in your favor, but it could just as easily work that way for the other team.
In the first half of the series between the two, Notre Dame beat MSU, 1-0. A series of penalties in the first period resulted in MSU sophomore forward Brent Darnell being sent off the ice for the game with a 5-game major and a game misconduct.
On Sunday the MSU women’s basketball team will hit the road for the first time in the young Big Ten season to take on a high-scoring Illinois squad. In a strength versus strength matchup, the defensive-minded Spartans (13-2 Big Ten, 1-1 Overall), who allow 45.6 points per game, will be tested by the Illini offense that averages 72.7 points per contest led star forward Karisma Penn. Four Illinois (9-6, 2-1) starters average 13 points or more, headlined by Penn’s 20-points and 10-plus rebounds per contest.
Tom Izzo has witnessed nearly 600 games since taking the helm of the MSU basketball program. But the last time he left Carver Hawkeye Arena in Feb.2011, he was certain the 20-point loss to Iowa was the worst performance of any team during his tenure. This time around, he gets to leave with a smile.
The MSU gymnastics team gets their season underway at 4 p.m. Saturday when they take on Western Michigan at Jenison Field House.
As the losses continue to pile up for the MSU hockey team, the Spartans are looking at this weekend’s home series against one of the country’s top teams as an opportunity to turn the season around.
The No. 22 MSU men’s basketball team (12-3 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) travels to Iowa City, Iowa and Carver-Hawkeye Arena to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes (11-4, 0-2). To follow the game, share your thoughts and ask questions to The State News’ men’s basketball reporter, Josh Mansour, join the live chat.
It’s been nearly 10 months since Denzel Valentine and Anthony Clemmons set foot on a basketball court as teammates. A lifetime of preparation, early-morning workouts and practices that sometimes roared into the darkness of a winter evening led to the Lansing Sexton High seniors capturing their second consecutive MHSAA Class B state championship. In moments of elation about what the future held, it became difficult not to think back to all they’ve been through together.
Despite what the record might say, Chris Forfar said the MSU hockey team is better than the numbers show. About halfway through the 2012-13 season, there might not be much interpretation to take out of the team’s 5-12-3 overall record, with a showing of 4-9-1-0 in the CCHA.