As the court inside Breslin Center was taken apart piece by piece, one couldn’t help but think of MSU’s 2000 National Championship won on that very floor. It stands as a foundation for the entire program - the NCAA title, the Big Ten championships, the 53-game home-court winning streak.
Playing in front of the hometown fans is always difficult. The desire to rise to the challenge and represent is unavoidable, but so are the distractions.As an Indianapolis native, freshman guard Chris Hill has more to think about than just the Big Ten Tournament.
I have a confession to make - I’ve had the tendency to jump on the occasional bandwagon. Yes, I “Blame(d) it on the rain” with Milli Vanilli, “Jump(ed)” with Kris Kross, and sang along to “YMCA” at sporting events.
Illinois (10-5 Big Ten, 22-7 overall) Key Players: Frank Williams, junior guard - 16.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 4.0 apg; Brian Cook, junior forward - 12.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg and 1.3 bpg; Williams can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, from wherever he wants on offense.
Maple leaf pride was burning within the 10 Canadians on the MSU hockey team after Canada beat the United States 5-2 for the Olympic ice hockey gold medal Sunday. All eight freshmen on MSU’s team - five Canadians and three Americans - watched the contest in the Wonders Hall dorm room shared by freshman left wing Kevin Estrada and freshman center Ash Goldie. The game was a tense, close battle until a decisive third period lifted the Canadians to victory - much to the delight of rookie left wing Brock Radunske, who’s from New Hamburg, Ontario.
Former Spartan head coach Gus Ganakas will receive the 2002 Men’s Basketball Distinguished Alumnus Award, the university announced Tuesday. Ganakas, who is currently the team’s color commentator on the Spartan Radio Network, is the sixth recipient of the award.
The women’s basketball team knows it needs a strong showing in the Big Ten Tournament to prolong the season.Winning it all in Indianapolis is probably the only way the Spartans (16-11 overall, 6-10 Big Ten) will earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The softball team split its two games at the Elon Tournament on Saturday. The Spartans (1-5) won the first game, their first victory of the season, 7-0 over Elon (0-8), but dropped the second 1-0 to UNC-Greensboro (9-2). In the first contest, senior pitcher Becky Gray set a MSU single-game strikeout record by ringing up 13 hitters.
The MSU women’s basketball team has been flirting with disaster of late. Using their defensive strength early in the season, the Spartans (16-11 overall, 6-10 Big Ten) opened the Big Ten season at 9-1 and were receiving votes in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today coaches polls. Since then, the defense has been inconsistent and the Spartans fluttered down the stretch, with scrappy victories mixed in. Sunday is a key example.
The women’s swimming and diving team (8-5 overall, 1-4 Big Ten) placed 10th at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor during the weekend. Senior diver Carly Weiden won the 3-meter dive and placed third in the 1-meter dive.
The gymnastics team won the team title at the 13th annual Spartan Invitational on Saturday. MSU (12-4) scored 195.700 points, fifth-highest in school history. Senior Jane McIntosh tied her school record with a score of 9.950 on the balance beam.
The past four seasons head coach Tom Izzo and his Spartans have spent the last weeks of February fighting off opponents trying to spoil their Big Ten Championship dreams. But with conference title hopes gone, the MSU men’s basketball team (17-10 overall, 8-6 Big Ten) gets to play the spoiler tonight in Columbus, Ohio.
The women’s basketball team will prepare for Thursday’s Big Ten Tournament shorthanded. Spartan head coach Joanne P.
The women’s track and field team took 10th place in the 21st annual Big Ten Indoor Championship last weekend. The Spartans (0-2) traveled to University Park, Pa., where sophomore Jamie Krzyminski won first place in the 5,000-meter run.
The No. 60 men’s tennis team opened its Big Ten season with two defeats this weekend. The Spartans (7-4 overall, 0-2 Big Ten) opened with a 4-3 loss to No.
The No. 21 wrestling team lost both of its duals this weekend. Friday, the Spartans (5-11 overall, 2-6 Big Ten) fell to No.
After the Spartans’ top forward line produced impressive statistics in Saturday night’s 4-3 win over Miami (Ohio), MSU head coach Ron Mason was thinking the same thing as many Spartan fans.“It’s about time,” the longtime MSU foreman said.The three players that comprise the top line - junior left wing Brian Maloney, freshman center Jim Slater and senior right wing Adam Hall - weren’t really slumping.
Oxford, Ohio - With fifth-ranked MSU’s league-title hopes hanging in the balance, its talented top line carried the Spartans to a dramatic 4-3 victory over Miami (Ohio) on Saturday at Goggin Ice Arena.Junior left wing Brian Maloney tallied the game-winning goal with 50.9 seconds left.
MSU senior linebacker Josh Thornhill filed his name for entry into the NFL Draft in April. Last season Thornhill led the team with 128 tackles, 93 solo, in 12 games for the Spartans. The 6-foot-2, 235-pound linebacker is projected to go somewhere between the second and forth rounds. Thornhill joins junior running back T.J.
The Spartans’ NCAA Tournament chances remained intact as Alan Anderson stepped to the line and connected on two free throws, giving MSU a 57-54 win against Indiana. Sunday’s win all but wraps up a bid for the Spartans (17-10 overall, 8-6 Big Ten) in the NCAA Tournament.