It might have been more challenging than they were expecting, but the Spartans pulled out a much-needed 54-45 win against Northwestern at home Wednesday night.
East Lansing’s first top-five matchup didn’t go the way Spartan fans had hoped, and now MSU looks to pick up the pieces.
It was the first time two top-five teams had ever played in East Lansing, and by the time it was over Tuesday night’s tilt between the Spartans and Hoosiers had become a classic.
For the second week in a row, the MSU women’s basketball team will take the Breslin Center floor one day following a highly-anticipated men’s matchup with a winning streak against a conference foe on the line.
The stakes were already high, a late season battle for first place in the Big Ten, but there was extra juice in Breslin Center on Tuesday night.
Close, but no cigar. Three weeks ago, this was the overarching message after the then-No. 13 MSU men’s basketball team left Assembly Hall with a 75-70 loss to then-No.
For the first time in history, the MSU men’s basketball team will host a top-five matchup, as the No. 4 Spartans (22-4 overall, 11-2 Big Ten) square off against No. 1 Indiana (23-3, 11-2) in front of a national television audience (7 p.m., ESPN).
It was a night in which seemingly everything went right for the Spartans at Breslin Center. That was evident when MSU women’s basketball coach Suzy Merchant summoned Mariah Harris from the bench to check into her first game action since Dec. 16, 2012.
On Tuesday, The State News published five keys for the Spartans to win the first ever top-10 clash with the rival Wolverines. The No. 8 MSU men’s basketball team (21-4 overall, 10-2 Big Ten) dominated No. 4 Michigan (21-4, 8-4) from start to finish, winning 75-52 in front of a frenzied crowd of 14,797 in attendance. Here’s how MSU fared when it came to the pregame keys.
The last time Mateen Cleaves took the floor against Michigan, he left a lasting impression not soon forgotten.
It might have been the first time the MSU and U-M’s men’s basketball programs met as a pair of top-10 teams, but it certainly didn’t feel like it.
The talk began months ago, back when the ink dried on their letters of intent. The greatest University of Michigan freshman class since the Fab Five.
It was a night in which nearly everything went right for the Spartans at Breslin Center. That was evident when Mariah Harris scored five points on her first two touches of the night.
With a crowd of media surrounding him near his locker late Tuesday night, Derrick Nix was asked a question he knew was coming. Given the events that had just transpired, it was inevitable. “How great can you guys be?”
The No. 8 MSU men’s basketball team (20-4 overall, 9-2 Big Ten) made an astounding 53.3 percent of its shots in the opening half to take a 38-24 lead into halftime against No. 8 Michigan (21-3, 8-3).
Indiana women’s basketball might be a Big Ten bottom dweller now, but MSU women’s head coach Suzy Merchant doesn’t expect that to last long under the guidance of first-year coach Curt Miller.
The Spartans and Wolverines have met on the hardwood 169 other times, but never like this, never as a pair of top-10 teams.
Following Sunday’s loss at No. 8 Penn State in arguably the biggest game of the regular season for the MSU women’s basketball team, head coach Suzy Merchant tried to embrace the positives.
Around the same time the Spartans were tipping off against the Big Ten-leading Nittany Lions, Michigan was putting the finishing touches on a 67-56 upset of second-place Purdue, ranked No. 13 — a win that would have been paramount to MSU’s chances of winning the conference this season.
The nerves of Branden Dawson were obvious. But few could blame him. A native of Gary, Ind., Dawson once again took the floor of Mackey Arena before family, friends, teammates and an anxious crowd in his home state.