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SPORTS

Monday musings

Tom Keller
March 13, 2006

Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, who's credited with inventing the slap shot, died last week at the age of 75. Meanwhile, Russ Tyler, who's credited with inventing the knuckle puck, is reportedly still playing roller hockey on the streets of Los Angeles. Villanova guard Allan Ray's status for the NCAA Tournament is in question after he suffered an inadvertent finger to the eye in a loss to Pittsburgh last week. If Ray can't play, it would be proof once and for all that there's no eye in team. The Gateway Grizzlies, a minor league baseball team located near St.

BASKETBALL

Big Ten busts

Matt Bishop
March 13, 2006

Indianapolis — After a stretch of three physically and emotionally draining games in 47 hours, Tom Izzo refused to cite fatigue as an excuse after his team shot 28.3 percent while falling 53-48 to Iowa in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse. The MSU head coach felt so strongly about it that he opened up his postgame press conference with an emphatic "no." "Fatigue had zero to do with the loss, zero," Izzo said.

SPORTS

Spartans fall to Buckeyes for third time this season in semis

Ethan Conley
March 13, 2006

Indianapolis — The MSU women's basketball team easily advanced to the semifinals of last week's Big Ten Tournament, only to run into a scarlet-and-gray wall for the third time this season. The Spartans cruised past Iowa in the quarterfinals on March 3, with a 79-58 score, setting up a showdown with Ohio State on March 5. MSU stayed within striking distance of the Buckeyes for the entire game, but could never grab a lead in the second half.

SPORTS

From the road

Photographer Mike Itchue details his trip to Indianapolis for the men's Big Ten Tournament. Conseco Fieldhouse is hands down the nicest arena I have ever been to.

BASKETBALL

Badgers have size, lack athleticism

Matt Bishop
March 2, 2006

The first time around, Wisconsin handed MSU its worst beating of the season, a 82-63 decision at the Kohl Center. Now, it's MSU's turn to protect its home floor when the two teams resume their rivalry at 7 p.m.

ICE HOCKEY

MSU still winning without a high-scoring offense

Eric Fish
March 2, 2006

Averaging only three goals per game, the No. 4 Spartans are far from flashy. But clutch goaltending, a solidified defense and the ability to put enough goals on the scoreboard have the Spartans riding a nine-game unbeaten streak headed into the postseason. After an up-and-down first half of the season, MSU is 12-2-3 since Jan.

ICE HOCKEY

Icers hungry for continued success as playoffs approach

Eric Fish
March 1, 2006

With a first-round CCHA playoff bye, the No. 4 Spartans are playing the wait-and-see game for who will invade Munn Ice Arena for a best-of-three series the weekend of March 10. But while the Spartans (20-10-8 overall, 14-7-7 CCHA) have the luxury of an off-week to get healthy and stay sharp, MSU head coach Rick Comley will be the first to tell you that he has no idea who his team could face in the second round. "The real nice thing is that there's nobody you really want to play and there's nobody that you don't want to play," Comley said.

BASKETBALL

Coming up empty

Tom Keller
February 27, 2006

Davis, Ager, Brown or get out of town. MSU's Big Three — senior center Paul Davis, senior guard Maurice Ager and junior guard Shannon Brown — once again dominated the scoresheet Sunday, accounting for all but nine of the Spartans' points in their 78-71 loss to Indiana. MSU got just three points from its bench — all from freshman guard Travis Walton, who played 32 minutes in place of injured senior forward Matt Trannon. The Hoosiers, meanwhile, got 16 points from their bench, including a game-tying free throw by Errek Suhr and a game-tying layup by Roderick Wilmont in the game's final minutes. But MSU head coach Tom Izzo insists he's not looking to his bench to score more. "We don't have a great bench — I told you that in September," Izzo said.

SPORTS

From the road

Women's hoops reporter Ethan Conley took a trip down to Ann Arbor for Thursday's regular-season finale victory against Michigan. Heading to Ann Arbor to watch an athletic contest is usually enough to make a Spartan froth at the mouth.

SPORTS

At this spot in season, Pistons are a starfish

The trade deadline has long been the true halfway point in the NBA season. Rosters are cemented, players are sure of their roles, and teams make eleventh-hour deals to add some missing pieces (see: Wallace, Rasheed). Even more importantly, since both the 41-game mark and the All-Star break have come and gone, Thursday's deadline marked my last chance to hand out some mid-season awards!

SPORTS

North America disappoints with lack of emotion in plays

After Alexander Ovechkin scored to put Russia up 1-0 on Canada in the Olympic quarterfinal round of hockey, he celebrated like he had just scored the overtime winner to advance his team to the Stanley Cup Finals. Now don't get me wrong, I love watching Ovechkin play.

SPORTS

Monday musings

Tom Keller
February 27, 2006

A pair of magicians performed at halftime of last week's MSU-Ohio State men's basketball game. Tragically, the performance was cut short when the performers went to pull a rabbit out of a hat and instead pulled out Michigan center Amadou Ba, who then shoved the pair to the ground. An American skeleton racer was knocked out of the Olympics last week after he broke a bone in his back. The racer did, however, receive the Most Ironic Injury of the Year Award. With two free throws late in Saturday's win against Temple, Duke guard J.J.

SPORTS

Catch up with...

Get the lowdown on how the next men's hoops class fared recently. Isaiah Dahlman Shooting guard/small forward 6-foot-6, 175 pounds Braham Area High School (Braham, Minn.) Dahlman scored his 3,000 and 3,001st career point on a layup en route to a 35-point performance.

SPORTS

Doctor embodies Olympic spirit

Steve Highfield
February 24, 2006

He's the doctor who advised Michelle Kwan to withdraw from the Winter Olympics. And he got his start in medicine at MSU. Dr. James Moeller is one of the medical doctors working with American athletes in Turin through the U.S.

SPORTS

After U-M, Big Ten tourney next

Ethan Conley
February 23, 2006

As far as the No. 14 MSU women's basketball team is concerned, tonight's game against Michigan couldn't have come at a better time. The Spartans (20-8 overall, 10-5 Big Ten) are coming off their worst loss of the season, a 69-38 drubbing at the hands of No.