SPORTS
Spartans focused on knocking off another top-ranked team
For a team that has struggled on the road, it may be a relief the MSU women's basketball team returns home.Though No.
BASKETBALL
Spartans in need of a victory
Following three straight road losses, the MSU men's basketball team is limping back to Breslin Center with a do-or-die attitude for tonight's contest against Penn State at 6 p.m. The Spartans (9-7 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) are losers of five of their last six games and on the brink of starting the Big Ten season 1-4. Don't think it hasn't gotten to head coach Tom Izzo. Izzo again cited MSU's costly turnovers, spotty free-throw shooting and inconsistent field-goal percentage as thorns in the Spartans' side Monday.
SPORTS
Florida recruit sticks with Smith
MSU added some beef to its recruiting class Saturday, when offensive lineman Joe Toth from Florida's Port Charlotte High verbally committed to the Spartans during his visit to campus.Port Charlotte head football coach Ray Hixson confirmed Toth's commitment and said the 6-foot-3, 280-pounder chose MSU from a list that included Eastern Kentucky, Central Florida, Florida, Florida Atlantic and the U.
ICE HOCKEY
Slater becomes violent when 'ticked' off
MSU's most important players were dropping like flies against Nebraska-Omaha this weekend. But fortunately for MSU head coach Rick Comley and the vitality of Spartan hockey, no one was hurt too seriously. In Friday's first period, freshman left wing David Booth, senior defenseman John-Michael Liles and freshman defenseman Corey Potter all had to be helped into the locker room after incurring various injuries within a 73-second span.
ICE HOCKEY
Spartans make it five in a row
There's no "I" in "team," but superb performances by individual players were the driving forces behind MSU's commanding sweep of Nebraska-Omaha this weekend at Munn Ice Arena.Senior left wing Brian Maloney, who had two goals in 21 games before the series, scored three goals and added an assist this weekend.
SPORTS
Sports briefs
Spartans slide past Butler, spank RaidersThe MSU men's tennis team opened the season with a sweep in a home doubleheader. After falling behind to Butler in the first match, the Spartans (2-0) were able to sneak out a 4-3 victory over the Bulldogs. Against Wright State, MSU didn't drop a single set, routing the Raiders 7-0.
SPORTS
CCHA, beware of Comley's crew
Feel that trembling? It's emanating from fans in places such as Big Rapids, Marquette and Columbus, Ohio.
SPORTS
Winning on road still a problem for young squad
University Park, Pa. - The Spartans' youthful roster has overcome many obstacles this season, yet the MSU women's basketball team is still in search of success on the road, which has eluded it from the beginning of the season.The Spartans (9-7 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) have gone 6-2 defending their home court, but dropped five of eight when playing away from the friendly confines of Breslin Center.Junior forward Julie Pagel said failure on the road is not from lack of talent, but the inability to hold down the fort under pressure."We know that we have to play all 40 minutes of defense to win games," she said.
BASKETBALL
Lorbek adjusts to college basketball
On the court, in the classroom and in the locker room, MSU freshman forward Erazem Lorbek is making the adjustment from life and basketball in Europe to the spotlight of the Big Ten. The gangly 6-foot-10 native of Ljubljana, Slovenia, has worked himself into head coach Tom Izzo's rotation since coming to America in August, combining the finesse game he honed playing for Slovenian junior national teams with crashing Big Ten style. While Lorbek is soft-spoken because of the language barrier - sometimes he swears in what looks and sounds like equal parts of English and Slovenian after making the occasional mistake - he said that his adjustment to MSU basketball has been trial by fire. "It's a higher level," Lorbek said of the conference.
BASKETBALL
Anderson, teammates crumble under Golden Gophers' pressure
Minneapolis - Alan Anderson's homecoming was miserable - again. Against Minnesota, the sophomore forward spent most of his second trip to Williams Arena on the bench because of early foul trouble.
SPORTS
The Vet is a beast but won't get Eagles a ring
In 1971, a monster was born in the heart of Philadelphia.And this weekend will be the last time for anyone to see the monster in action.All you have to do is tune your TV to the NFC Championship game at Veterans Memorial Stadium at 3:00 p.m.
BASKETBALL
New Year's resolution: start winning
So far 2003 has been an awful year for the MSU men's basketball team. But luckily for the Spartans (9-6 overall, 1-2 Big Ten), it is only 17 days into the new year and there is plenty of time to turn things around. Since the beginning of the year, MSU is 1-3.
SPORTS
2 players part ways with football program
Assistant athletics director John Lewandowski said Thursday MSU's football roster has lost two players since the end of the season.
SPORTS
McCallie and company ready for challenge of Nittany Lions
MSU women's basketball team travels to University Park, Pa., on Sunday to do battle with No.
ICE HOCKEY
Surging Spartans
With three straight wins under its belt, the MSU hockey team seems to be heating up after a stormy first half of the season. And senior left wing Brian Maloney hopes his scoring touch is next in line to be rekindled. Maloney has been one of the Spartans' biggest disappointments in a disappointing season.
BASKETBALL
Spartans need to prove themselves on road
West Lafayette, Ind. - Plain and simple, the Spartans eagerly anticipate a return to Breslin Center for a basketball game. But MSU (9-6 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) still has a road contest with Minnesota on Saturday before that happens Wednesday against Penn State (5-8, 0-2). And if this year is any clue, the Spartans could be near the cellar of the conference if they lose to the Golden Gophers. With its loss to Purdue on Tuesday night, the MSU men's basketball team not only lost its fourth game in five contests, but it fell to 2-5 this year when playing on the road or at a neutral site. "The times we've played on the road, things haven't gone our way," senior forward Aloysius Anagonye said.
ICE HOCKEY
Mason, Miller comment on hockey season
Most Detroit Lions fans probably wish their M&M boys would just walk away from the mess they oversee at Ford Field.But at the same time, a lot of MSU hockey supporters probably wish the Spartans' version of the M&M boys would come back to Munn Ice Arena.Ron Mason and Ryan Miller are two major ingredients missing from this season's hockey stew.And things have been a little bland without them.Mason, college hockey's all-time winningest coach, manned his post behind the Spartans bench for 23 years before announcing last January that he would become MSU's athletics director.Less than seven months into his job as the head honcho of the Athletics Department, he has already fired and hired head football coaches.Miller played three seasons for MSU, where he arguably became the best college hockey goaltender of all time.In August, he announced that he would forgo his senior season to play professional hockey.After spending most of the season in the minor leagues, the East Lansing native is now enjoying his second stint with the NHL's Buffalo Sabres.Miller has started six of Buffalo's last seven games, and he earned his first-career shutout against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.He said he doesn't regret pursuing his childhood dream of playing in the NHL, even though it has prevented him from seeing his former teammates in East Lansing."I've been keeping track, keeping in touch with the guys, but I haven't been able to watch a single game," Miller said last week.
SPORTS
Hoosiers on deck
In the early part of the Big Ten season no team has proven unbeatable, making every game count.MSU (8-6 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) has an opportunity to make a big difference at 7 tonight against Indiana at Breslin Center.Indiana guard Jenny DeMuth, averaging a team-high 18.3 points and 6.7 boards in Big Ten games, leads the Hoosiers (9-4, 2-1) to battle.Prior to today's matchup, Indiana eked out a 54-50 upset over No.
SPORTS
Freshmen make their marks
Some athletes would get tired of sharing the limelight with each other for such a long time. That's not the case with Liz Shimek and Lindsay Bowen. The two athletes came to MSU to play basketball after battling for Michigan's prestigious title of Ms. Basketball, an award given by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan as the top prep player in the state. "There really was no competition," Shimek said.
SPORTS
Cooper gives verbal commitment to Smith
MSU is getting help where it needs it the most - on defense. Flint Northern defensive back William "Greg" Cooper told The State News on Tuesday night he has changed his verbal commitment from Michigan to MSU because of personal reasons and because he felt more comfortable in East Lansing. Cooper verbally committed to U-M during the summer, but then visited MSU's campus last November - prior to former head football coach Bobby Williams' firing.