Days before the MSU men’s basketball team’s game against Illinois on Feb. 6, head coach Tom Izzo fielded questions about what he would do at point guard with junior guard Kalin Lucas injured.
Love was not in the air for the MSU women’s basketball team’s Valentine Day’s matinee with Northwestern. With one, if not more, bodies flying around on any given play, the Spartans once again used their defense to transition into offense, knocking off the Wildcats 68-55 in front of 8,632 fans Sunday at Breslin Center.
Cetera Washington now is in her third season with the MSU women’s basketball team. The 6-foot junior forward from Kalamazoo, Mich., came to MSU from Loy Norrix High School, where she was named 2006 Associated Press Class A Player of the Year.
The MSU women’s basketball team showed it has many weapons Sunday, using a balanced offensive attack to beat Northwestern, 68-55, at Breslin Center. Every Spartan who played scored, led by three in double figures — senior center Allyssa DeHaan (12 points), sophomore guard Porschè Poole (12) and senior center Lauren Aitch (11).
Junior guard Kalin Lucas scores 24 in MSU’s 65-54 win at Penn State. The win ends the Spartans’ three-game skid and gives them their 10th Big Ten win of the season.
Senior center Allyssa DeHaan tied the NCAA Division I career blocks record Thursday night when she swatted Michigan center Krista Phillips 13 seconds into the second half at Crisler Arena, tying the previous record of 480 held by Texas Christian’s Sandora Irvin (2001-05). Later Thursday night, St. Mary’s junior forward Louella Tomlinson, who came into her game with Gonzaga needing three blocks to break the record, tied and later broke the record with five rejections.
MSU junior guard Chris Allen is averaging career highs in points, rebounds, assists and steals — but Allen and his coaches agree those improvements stem from his growth on defense. His increased focus and intense film study means he’s now playing the best defense of his life, head coach Tom Izzo said.
For more than a week, the focus of the MSU men’s basketball program has been on junior guard Kalin Lucas. Saturday, the team’s attention will turn to Penn State’s junior guard and leading scorer Talor Battle, the Nittany Lions’ most dangerous player.
A trip to State College, Pa., might be just what the doctor ordered for the MSU men’s basketball team. No coach would play a road game in the Big Ten if he didn’t have to, but if there is a team you want to face on their home floor, it’s the Nittany Lions.
Injuries throughout her basketball career might have taken away some of Aisha Jefferson’s physical gifts, but they haven’t affected her heart.
There’s nothing like a rivalry game to get a team going after a tough loss. Following Sunday’s disappointing loss at Iowa, the MSU women’s basketball team will be anxious to get back at it tonight when they head to Crisler Arena to play Michigan at 7 p.m. Four days after the team struggled defensively against the Hawkeyes, MSU goes into Ann Arbor against a team that will play a very similar style — drive to the basket and either put up a shot or kick out for a 3-point attempt.
Funny, the effect ankle injuries have on star MSU point guards. Kalin Lucas’ performance on a bum ankle Tuesday night against Purdue brought back memories of Mateen Cleaves’ 2000 championship game effort.
The MSU men’s basketball team struggled defensively off ball screens and it cost them another game Tuesday, as the No. 10 Spartans lost to No. 6 Purdue, 76-64, at Breslin Center.
Chances are senior center Allyssa DeHaan only will hold the NCAA blocks record for about three hours. And that’s a shame.
Former MSU and NBA point guard Eric Snow will be on campus today to sign his newly released book.
Kalin Lucas might not have played for the MSU men’s basketball team Saturday night against Illinois, but he wasn’t out of the game.
The gap that Breslin Center had on the rest of the Big Ten is slimming, and something that hasn’t escaped men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo.
If the MSU women’s basketball team showed anything during its four-game winning streak, it was that good defense led to good transition offense.
For the past two weeks, Draymond Green has shown that he’s starting to find his lethal mid-range jump shot. On Saturday — more importantly, he says — he found his heart.
Remember when you joked that the MSU men’s basketball would go 18-0 in the Big Ten? Remember when a little part of you actually thought the Spartans could go 18-0? Welcome back to reality. MSU’s 78-73 loss at Illinois on Saturday has slimmed MSU’s lead in the Big Ten to just one game with No. 8 Purdue coming into East Lansing.