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Basketball

BASKETBALL

Nation's leading scorer will present problems for MSU

Joey Nowak
March 21, 2009

Throw conferences, strength of schedule and RPI out the window. When coming up against the top scorer in the nation, you can’t help but take notice. The MSU women’s basketball team will do just that in its first round NCAA Tournament game against Middle Tennessee State on Sunday, taking the floor against star junior forward Alysha Clark, who leads the nation with 27.3 points per game. In addition, she averages 9.8 rebounds per contest.

BASKETBALL

Walton shares tournament experiences with freshmen

Cash Kruth
March 21, 2009

Minneapolis — To this day, Travis Walton remembers the MSU men’s basketball team’s 81-67 loss to North Carolina in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The now-senior guard said he played awful as a sophomore point guard on that team, hanging his head in despair as the Spartans’ deficit grew deeper and deeper.

BASKETBALL

Men's basketball too much for Robert Morris, 77-62

Alex Altman
March 21, 2009

Minneapolis — It’s been several years since Jimmy Langhurst played AAU ball with Raymar Morgan, but the Robert Morris guard said he hadn’t forgotten what type of ability Morgan possessed. Now, maybe the rest of the world will remember. Morgan completed a furious alley-oop dunk on the first play of the game and never hit the brakes, scoring a team-high 16 points to motor No. 2-seed MSU past Robert Morris 77-62 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at the Metrodome.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

The Wild Card

Alex Altman
March 19, 2009

Step right up and take your shots at Raymar Morgan. You won’t be the first. Call him too sensitive — it’s not like the junior forward hasn’t heard that one before. Compare his up-and-down play to the stock market, a jab taken at him by a TV commentator earlier this year. Even snicker that he has invented “new ways to travel,” a quip authored by a Sporting News reporter before the season even started. Say whatever you want — just don’t expect Morgan to listen to you.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

McCallie does not deserve warm welcome

Finally, Joanne P. McCallie has come back to East Lansing. It’s been exactly two years since the former MSU women’s basketball coach has been on the public stage in East Lansing. That was following her team’s loss to Rutgers in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

For band and basketball

Jacob Carpenter
March 18, 2009

For 17 years of MSU basketball games, Barry Greer has directed the Spartan Brass, jeered opponents with the Izzone, given high fives to players before games and offered coaching tips in the locker room after the buzzer. And he does it all with Down syndrome, a genetic condition that causes a mental disability.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

No tears this year

A collective cheer took a year’s worth of grief off the shoulders of the MSU women’s basketball team. After being left out of the NCAA Tournament last season, the Spartans were awarded a No. 9 seed this season and will play No. 8 Middle Tennessee State in the first round of the tournament.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Seeding keeps MSU close to home

Cash Kruth
March 16, 2009

The highs, lows and inconsistencies of the MSU men’s basketball team’s regular season are in the past. All that matters now is that the Spartans (22-6) are officially in one-and-done territory, learning Sunday evening they earned the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional, drawing No. 15 seed Robert Morris in the first round on Friday at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Many factors led to loss to Ohio State

With the Big Ten Tournament done and the NCAA Tournament on the horizon, men’s basketball reporter Cash Kruth examines four questions surrounding the Spartans as they look to rebound from a disappointing conference tournament with a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Big Ten letdowns

Alex Altman
March 15, 2009

After his team’s season-ending victory against Purdue, MSU senior guard Travis Walton made a bold guarantee during the Senior Day celebration. “We’re gonna raise another banner up in here,” said Walton, moments before the team hoisted its 2008-09 regular season championship banner into the rafters.