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Basketball

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Jefferson makes impact all over court

Joey Nowak
March 22, 2009

With less than two minutes remaining in the game, Middle Tennessee State’s Alysha Clark drove to the basket for what could have been one more bucket to add to a stunning point total. Instead, she missed a layup and knocked junior forward Aisha Jefferson to the ground in pursuit of the rebound. The whistle sounded, resulting in Clark’s fifth foul and a pivotal moment in MSU’s 60-59 NCAA Tournament victory against the Blue Raiders on Sunday at Breslin Center.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Comeback kids

Call it a senior moment. With the score tied in a 57-57 game with Middle Tennessee State, guard Mia Johnson, the MSU women’s basketball team’s lone senior, got the ball on the wing and fired a three-point shot over an outstretched Blue Raiders defender. Johnson, who missed a three on the previous possession, watched the shot fall effortlessly through the basket, giving the Spartans a 60-57 lead with 1:10 remaining in a game they eventually would go on to win 60-59.

BASKETBALL

Lack of depth, balance could be issue for hot Trojans

Cash Kruth
March 21, 2009

Minneapolis — In a perfect world, Southern Cal men’s basketball coach Tim Floyd said he’d like his team to be able to play as many players as the opposition. Come Sunday evening, however, Floyd’s Trojans are going to be far from a perfect world. The No. 10 seeded Trojans, who mainly rely on four players, play at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Metrodome against an MSU team that often goes as many as nine or 10-men deep.

BASKETBALL

Limiting turnovers crucial for Spartans

The MSU women’s basketball team got one last day of practice in before facing off against Middle Tennessee State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Breslin Center. Playing on a court that no longer bared the familiar “S” in the middle of the court, the team worked diligently on working against pressure, something that Middle Tennessee does as well as any team in the country.

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.