Though swift and graceful in the pool, the sidewalk is a different story for freshmen Ian Clutten and Rudolf Wagenaar.Clutten and Wagenaar are from Capetown, South Africa, and aren't as excited with the weather at MSU as they are about everything else."The climate change has been tough," Wagenaar said.
Brad Fast and John-Michael Liles get more ice than Jay-Z's girlfriend. The multitalented senior defensemen have been MSU's main workhorses this year, logging far more minutes than any other Spartan not wearing goalie pads. Fast and Liles are MSU's top defensive pairing in that they play most of the important 5-on-5 shifts every game.
For a team that has struggled on the road, it may be a relief the MSU women's basketball team returns home.Though No.
Following a disappointing three-game road swing, the MSU men's basketball team took out its frustrations on a team with no conference wins. The Spartans (10-7 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) soundly drubbed Penn State on Wednesday 70-36 at Breslin Center, halting their three-game conference losing streak and holding the Nittany Lions (5-10, 0-4) to their lowest point total since joining the Big Ten. The Spartans' win stemmed from a 19-3 MSU run to end the first half after an offensive stalemate early on.
With his team stuck in a whirlwind of losses and inconsistency, Aloysius Anagonye decided it was time to assert himself as a leader.The senior forward paced the Spartans, as MSU (10-7 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) massacred Penn State 70-36 Wednesday night.After recording his first double-double this season on Saturday with a 12-point, 11-rebound performance against Minnesota, Anagonye dropped in 11 points while adding five rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals in 24 minutes of work.
Following three straight road losses, the MSU men's basketball team is limping back to Breslin Center with a do-or-die attitude for tonight's contest against Penn State at 6 p.m. The Spartans (9-7 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) are losers of five of their last six games and on the brink of starting the Big Ten season 1-4. Don't think it hasn't gotten to head coach Tom Izzo. Izzo again cited MSU's costly turnovers, spotty free-throw shooting and inconsistent field-goal percentage as thorns in the Spartans' side Monday.
MSU added some beef to its recruiting class Saturday, when offensive lineman Joe Toth from Florida's Port Charlotte High verbally committed to the Spartans during his visit to campus.Port Charlotte head football coach Ray Hixson confirmed Toth's commitment and said the 6-foot-3, 280-pounder chose MSU from a list that included Eastern Kentucky, Central Florida, Florida, Florida Atlantic and the U.
MSU's most important players were dropping like flies against Nebraska-Omaha this weekend. But fortunately for MSU head coach Rick Comley and the vitality of Spartan hockey, no one was hurt too seriously. In Friday's first period, freshman left wing David Booth, senior defenseman John-Michael Liles and freshman defenseman Corey Potter all had to be helped into the locker room after incurring various injuries within a 73-second span.
There's no "I" in "team," but superb performances by individual players were the driving forces behind MSU's commanding sweep of Nebraska-Omaha this weekend at Munn Ice Arena.Senior left wing Brian Maloney, who had two goals in 21 games before the series, scored three goals and added an assist this weekend.
Spartans slide past Butler, spank RaidersThe MSU men's tennis team opened the season with a sweep in a home doubleheader. After falling behind to Butler in the first match, the Spartans (2-0) were able to sneak out a 4-3 victory over the Bulldogs. Against Wright State, MSU didn't drop a single set, routing the Raiders 7-0.
Ray Hixson, head football coach at Port Charlotte High (Fla.), said offensive lineman Joe Toth verbally committed to MSU on Saturday.
Feel that trembling? It's emanating from fans in places such as Big Rapids, Marquette and Columbus, Ohio.
University Park, Pa. - The Spartans' youthful roster has overcome many obstacles this season, yet the MSU women's basketball team is still in search of success on the road, which has eluded it from the beginning of the season.The Spartans (9-7 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) have gone 6-2 defending their home court, but dropped five of eight when playing away from the friendly confines of Breslin Center.Junior forward Julie Pagel said failure on the road is not from lack of talent, but the inability to hold down the fort under pressure."We know that we have to play all 40 minutes of defense to win games," she said.
On the court, in the classroom and in the locker room, MSU freshman forward Erazem Lorbek is making the adjustment from life and basketball in Europe to the spotlight of the Big Ten. The gangly 6-foot-10 native of Ljubljana, Slovenia, has worked himself into head coach Tom Izzo's rotation since coming to America in August, combining the finesse game he honed playing for Slovenian junior national teams with crashing Big Ten style. While Lorbek is soft-spoken because of the language barrier - sometimes he swears in what looks and sounds like equal parts of English and Slovenian after making the occasional mistake - he said that his adjustment to MSU basketball has been trial by fire. "It's a higher level," Lorbek said of the conference.
Minneapolis - Alan Anderson's homecoming was miserable - again. Against Minnesota, the sophomore forward spent most of his second trip to Williams Arena on the bench because of early foul trouble.
The MSU hockey team was firing on all pistons Saturday night - and Nebraska-Omaha was left looking like it was hit by a Mack truck.The Spartans finished off their second straight series sweep by demolishing the visiting Mavericks 7-0 in front of 6,652 fans at Munn Ice Arena.The Spartans won the series-opener 5-2 on Friday.
For two periods Friday night, the MSU hockey team was in a dead heat with Nebraska-Omaha. But for the second straight Friday, the Spartans used a three-goal third period to pull out a 5-2 victory.
In 1971, a monster was born in the heart of Philadelphia.And this weekend will be the last time for anyone to see the monster in action.All you have to do is tune your TV to the NFC Championship game at Veterans Memorial Stadium at 3:00 p.m.
So far 2003 has been an awful year for the MSU men's basketball team. But luckily for the Spartans (9-6 overall, 1-2 Big Ten), it is only 17 days into the new year and there is plenty of time to turn things around. Since the beginning of the year, MSU is 1-3.