Syracuse, N.Y. Oklahoma never trailed over the first twenty minutes, and at halftime, the Sooners lead the Spartans, 31-27. Oklahoma junior guard and Big 12 Player of the Year Buddy Hield leads all scorers with 11 points, and MSU senior guard Travis Trice follows with 10 points.
Head coach Tom Izzo said he didn't have a comment when asked about MSU earning the No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament an hour after falling to Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament, but during his weekly press conference on Tuesday, he said the Spartans deserve to be underdogs this season.
Fifteen years later, Mateen Cleaves is still invested in Spartan basketball.
Travis Trice might be this year’s Shabazz Napier. It’s a premature comparison at the moment but if the senior MSU guard continues to play the way he has, his legacy will mirror that of the Connecticut Huskie who torched the Spartans in the Elite Eight. Tell me that this doesn’t sound familiar: A skinny, six-foot guard dominates NCAA tournament games for stretches of time and knocks down NBA-range threes to lead his No.
As a head coach, Mark Dantonio isn't afraid to give praise to players or teams when credit is due.
On Sunday against Virginia, head coach Tom Izzo had to game plan for Virginia's slow, methodical offense eats up much of the shot clock. On Friday against Oklahoma, Izzo expects the exact opposite. "Run, run, run, run, run, man," Izzo said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday. "I think we could have a test run for the 20?second shot clock in this game.
Travis Trice's big day started well before the opening tip. It started with a message from former MSU forward Draymond Green, who texted Trice the morning of the game reminding him of the goal at stake. "Draymond Green actually this morning said don't let this be your last game and I texted him back and said, I won't," Trice said.
When Mateen Cleaves and Tom Izzo were cutting down the nets after MSU basketball's last national championship in 2000 they were doing it in Reebok apparel. Times have changed for MSU athletics, as they now wear the Nike swoosh on their uniforms.
On to Syracuse. It wasn't sexy.
It was the Travis Trice show to begin the first half. The senior guard was absolutely electric to start the game, scoring 13 consecutive points on an array of fast break layups and 3-point bombs early in the half to help give MSU the advantage at halftime, 23-18.
MSU (24-11 overall) doesn’t have to look far to see similarities between Wisconsin and Virginia (30-3 overall), their opponent tomorrow in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
When head coach Tom Izzo first realized MSU would potentially play No. 2 seed Virginia in the second round, he first thought to himself, "why?" The Spartans barely prevailed against the top-seeded Cavaliers in last year's Sweet 16 round, and will now have to crack one of the top defenses in the nation for a second year in a row.
By Troy Jefferson Tjefferson@statenews.com Branden Dawson and Gavin Schilling’s early foul trouble could’ve signaled doom for MSU but thanks to the bench, it wasn’t the case.
Charlotte, North Carolina — MSU missed five of their first six shots and trailed Georgia 9-3 five minutes into the game.
By Troy Jefferson Tjefferson@statenews.com Fan story Birds flock back north for spring but Spartan fans have come south on the first day of the new season.
Following MSU’s Big Ten tournament championship loss, senior forward Branden Dawson showed a rare set of emotions--tears. He and senior guard Travis Trice are entering the final stretch of their Spartan careers, and following such a tough defeat, Dawson just couldn’t hold back.
The streak continues for Izzo: it's the Spartans' 18th consecutive NCAA tourney appearance. But he isn't looking past MSU's games this weekend. The first being Friday's matchup with Georgia.
Benching senior guard Travis Trice in favor of freshman guard Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn against Ohio State on Feb.
Georgia (21-11, 11-7 SEC) Georgia’s most impressive performance of the year came in a close 72-68 home loss to No.