It's a Valentine's Day MSU fans won't soon forget. Junior guard Denzel Valentine drained a 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds on the clock to give MSU (17-8 overall, 8-4 Big Ten) the upset win over No.
To beat No. 23 Ohio State on Saturday, MSU will first have to find a way to beat freshman guard D’Angelo Russell.
Two remarkable events occurred on Wednesday night with 9:27 left on the clock in the second half. Standing at the free throw line as the screams from the home crowd in Happy Valley echoed throughout the arena, Aerial Powers drained her first free throw after taking a foul from Penn State's Kaliyah Mitchell. Despite having her second charity shot failing to fall through the net, the lone point was good enough for the Detroit native to break the tie en route to MSU snapping their three-game losing streak while also recording her 1,000 career point. Finishing the evening with 26 total points while also grabbing nine rebounds and two assists, Powers is now the second player this season to reach the milestone, as Becca Mills surpassed the 1,000 point mark last Wednesday at home against the Michigan Wolverines. The 26 recorded points also gives Powers 564 points on the season, jumping her to second on the MSU all-time single-season scoring list. She needs just 34-points to surpass Liz Shimek, who spent two seasons in the WNBA with the Chicago Sky and with the Spartans from 2002-06, to break the scoring record team record.
If there was one program in the Big Ten who the Spartans could bully around and pick up an effortless victory on the road, it would be Penn State. The Nittany Lions, plagued with the second-worse scoring offensive in the conference with 63.3 points per game, have sat at the bottom of the standing for longer than they'll admit. Walking in to Happy Valley riding a three-game losing streak, with their most recent loss coming at the hands of Minnesota this past Sunday, an opportunity to pummel last year's regular-season champions fell into the lap of MSU, only for the matchup to go down to the wire. Aerial Powers, the Big Ten's second-highest points scorer, once again dominated on the offensive side of the glass, totaling 26-points en route to a 74-67 win on Wednesday. It appeared that the Spartans were hungry enough to put Penn State out of their misery early on in the first half, increasing their lead to as high as 12 with less than six minutes into the contest. They would later deflate the momentum from the Penn State early on in the second half when a Powers triple from beyond the arc would heighten the MSU lead to 14.
The media room for silent this past Thursday following MSU's crushing defeat to Michigan at the Breslin Center when Suzy Merchant sauntered to the podium. Standing with her head held up high, trying her best to hold back tears, providing no opening statements and going right into the questioning period. A sense of frustration and feeling conquered dwelled upon her that couldn't be overlooked as the veteran head coach went further into detail on what everyone else, fans and media members a like, have been thinking this season. A lack of depth due to an horrendous amount of injuries and a lack of contribution from a majority of the eight players that Merchant is down to is the dark cloud that hangs over the head of the women's basketball team. Even while being equipped with two of the top five players in scoring in Aerial Powers (No.
As of Monday, the Spartans are shooting 62.1 percent on free throws — the worst free throw shooting percentage in the Big Ten since the 2004-2005 season.
The Spartans saw a major contribution from a player outside of Aerial Powers and Tori Jankoska, two of the top five leading scorers in the Big Ten. Lexi Gussert, who got the start in replacement of Anna Morrissey on Sunday against Minnesota, recorded a career-high 20-points, 16 of which came in the first half. The freshman was responsible for the first 13-points of the afternoon for MSU (11-13, 3-10 Big Ten) before Kennedy Johnson's jumper botched the streak at the 12-minute mark. Gussert's electrifying performance was good enough for the Spartans to go up as high as 10 midway through the first half, but a resurgent effort by the Golden Gophers extends MSU's losing streak on the road to six straight games, falling short at Williams Arena, 86-79. Powers, the redshirt sophomore from Detroit, fell short of reaching her 20th straight double-double game, recording a team-high 31-points who also grabbing nine rebounds in the process. Jankoska followed suit with 21-points and eight rebounds.
Michigan hasn't swept the Spartans in regular-season play since the 1999-00 season. But after the first half of play, the Wolverines will have an easy road to squander the 14-year streak. Both Katelynn Flaherty and Siera Thompson lead the maize and blue with 12-point to give the team a 35-18 lead heading into the locker room. Michigan has managed to have a field day on the offensive side of the glass, converting 60-percent of their shots from beyond the arc while shooting 50-percent from the floor.
After trading leads against U-M for most of the game, the Spartans rallied in an explosive overtime with seniors and junior forward Matt Costello stepping up to seal victory.
Muskegon High senior and MSU basketball commit Deyonta Davis has been named a McDonalds All-American.
With snow piling on outside of the Breslin gates and a whiteout from the fans inside, MSU turned up the heat on the Wolverines in overtime, securing a crucial 76-66 victory in the process.
Tom Izzo turned 60 years old on Friday, but he said the celebrations can wait. At least until Monday.
The dark cloud hanging over the head of the MSU women's basketball team this season is clearly the amount of injuries that have taken a tole of the program. Dressing only eight players for Wednesday night's matchup against Indiana at the Breslin Center, a couple players were asked to go further than what they're bodies are used too. Having almost played the entire 40-minutes, Tori Jankoska and Aerial Powers found ways to carry the load in the points column as only five players scored at least one point for the Spartans. Jankoska, the sophomore guard from Freeland, Michigan, scored a career-high 28-points while also adding 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals to lead MSU to a 72-57 victory, their third Big Ten conference win of the season. "Sometime she's taken on a tougher defensive assignment which has caused to not be as effective on offense," Merchant said.
Consistency. Combine it with talent and great things can happen. But consistency has been one thing he women's basketball team (11-10) as lacked this season. “You see flashes (of how good they can be), and now they have to be consistent,” head coach Suzy Merchant said.
EAST LANSING - Team and individual achievements were made on Wednesday for the Spartans. Tori Jankoska, who came into her tenth Big Ten matchup of the season against Indiana, recorded a career-high 28-points en route to a 72-57 victory at the Breslin Center. The senior guard hit 56-percent of her shots from beyond the arc, finishing the game as one-of-two Spartans (11-10, 3-7 B1G) who found themselves with over 20-points scored. Aerial Powers, the Detroit product from Country Day, led the team in field-goal (22) and three-point attempts (10). Her aggressiveness on the offensive side of the floor matched Jankoska's point total with 28. Both players' shot making abilities helped garner MSU's largest conference victory this season.
Down by three-points with seven minutes into the first half following a jumper from the key by Indiana Hoosiers guard Karlee McBride, the shots were immediately converting for the Spartans. MSU went on a 12-0 run to record their second largest lead of the evening before going into halftime with a 39-25 lead at the Breslin Center. Tori Jankoska, the senior guard, was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc to lead the Spartans with 19-points. She was responsible for the final four-points of the half after being fouled after converting a three-pointer. Aerial Powers, the Detroit product, has added 16-points and Becca Mills has recorded four-points, the only three players who have garnered any points in the first 20-minutes. The Spartans are currently shooting 37 percent from the floor (13-of-35), compared to Indiana, who has converted just 32 percent of their shots (9-of-28). Six players have garnered stats in the points column for the Hoosiers, with Karlee McBride leading the team with six-points.
By Mayara Sanches msanches@statenews.com Not many freshman recruited by a Big Ten school get to play much, or even at all, during their freshman year. They are put on the bench, where they sit and watch the great players do their best, hoping to learn from them.
Foul trouble crippled the men's basketball team early against No. 16 Maryland on Saturday. Senior forward Branden Dawson, sophomore forward Gavin Schilling, junior forward Branden Dawson and junior guard Denzel Valentine each picked up two in the first half, and head coach Tom Izzo was forced to turn to his bench sooner than he would have preferred. It wasn't the first time Valentine got himself into early foul trouble this season.
In a closer-than-expected contest, MSU held on for a 66-60 victory. The game started with fireworks, as junior guard Denzel Valentine lobbed the ball to senior forward Branden Dawson who finished emphatically with the slam. MSU (13-6 overall, 4-2 Big Ten) looked good early, jumping out to an 8-2 lead after Dawson netted two free throws.
The men's basketball team couldn't maintain a strong start against Penn State but managed to hold on to the lead, taking a 30-28 advantage into halftime.