Heading into the MSU men’s basketball team’s first meeting with Michigan this season, Travis Trice didn’t know exactly what to expect. Growing up near Dayton, Ohio, the freshman guard said after the 60-59 loss in Ann Arbor he didn’t realize the intensity that comes along with the in-state rivalry.
When Draymond Green went down with a left knee injury late in Tuesday’s 42-41 loss to Illinois, his thoughts raced. The senior forward felt “discouraged, worried (and) scared” and wondered if he had lost a shot at a championship.
In her four years as a Spartan, senior guard Porsché Poole has never lost to Michigan, and with Sunday’s matchup likely serving as her last experience in the rivalry, she doesn’t want to start now.
Branden Carney can walk. Although not an impressive feat for most, the freshman defensman realizes how close he came to having that simple aspect of his life taken away.
At this point in the season, focusing on the little things will pay big dividends for the MSU hockey team. Entering a rematch on the road of an earlier season split against No. 10 Ohio State, the Spartans (13-11-4 overall, 8-9-3-2 CCHA) are at a critical point in the season and attention to detail has become essential.
For six members of the MSU wrestling team, Sunday’s dual against No. 6 Ohio State will be the last time they step onto the mat at Jenison Field House. In their final home dual of the season, the Spartans (3-8 overall, 1-6 Big Ten) hope to snap a four-game losing skid, but they’ll be tasked in doing so by one of the top teams in the country.
As Tom Anastos looks ahead to the series with No. 10 Ohio State, he recognizes a lot of similarities with his own team.
As they look to build on last week’s 194.400-193.625 victory over Illinois State, MSU gymnasts know they still have a long way to go. For the fourth straight week, the Spartans’ struggles on the balance beam were highlighted, and the event continues to see most of the focus in practice.
Considering his vast résumé filled with several defensive coordinator and defensive secondary coaching positions, it should come as no surprise that head coach Mark Dantonio developed one of the nation’s top defenses in 2011. As a three-year letterman defensive back in the late-1970s for South Carolina, it also should come as no surprise that the defensive-minded coach has a knack for finding talented defensive backs and developing them into a skilled secondary.
After more than 39 minutes of ugly basketball and with its best player on the bench, the No. 9 MSU men’s basketball team still had a chance to beat Illinois on Tuesday in Champaign, Ill.
She stood with her teammates at the center court of Breslin Center after a game 56 other times, but this time, Porsché Poole couldn’t contain her emotions. As her eyes turned red and tears streamed down her face, the MSU women’s basketball team (13-9 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) suffered its fourth straight loss on Thursday to Illinois (7-15, 1-8).
The MSU wrestling team’s Sunday afternoon dual at No. 11 Michigan left something to be desired, but the Spartans might have gotten more out of the trip than just a 26-9 rout at the hands of their in-state rival.
After an ugly first half of play in Champaign, Ill., the No. 9 MSU men’s basketball team trails Illinois 22-20.
This time last year, Shanthi Teike had the world in front of her. Then a sophomore on the MSU gymnastics team, Teike was a rising star in the Spartan ranks coming off a freshman season, which made people take notice. As a sophomore, Teike competed as an all-around gymnast in seven of the team’s 12 matches and finished with three first-place, five second-place and three third-place honors leading into the NCAA Corvallis Regional.
With the MSU women’s basketball team (13-9 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) sliding from first to sixth in the conference after losing four straight games, head coach Suzy Merchant said her team needed a game to turn the tides.
For the second game in a row, the No. 9 MSU men’s basketball team likely will be without the services Travis Trice. The freshman guard sustained a groin injury in a loss to Michigan on Jan. 17.
In MSU athletics lore, Kirk Gibson and Earl Morrall stand head and shoulders above most for their time in East Lansing and beyond. Nearly 600 people came out to honor Morrall and Gibson at the 2012 MSU Baseball First Pitch Dinner Saturday at the Kellogg Center.
Last year, Derrick Nix and Garrick Sherman made for a unique friendship. This season, with Sherman now at Notre Dame, Nix — a junior center for the No. 10 men’s basketball team — has paired with sophomore center Adreian Payne to make up a new age Bash Brother combination. Nix and Payne have utilized their vastly different styles of play to help the Spartans (17-4 overall, 6-2 Big Ten) stay atop the conference standings.
In its first true road series since December 9th, the No. 16 hockey team was swept in two games this weekend by Ferris State.
Whenever I start to get a grasp of the MSU hockey team, it makes a quantum leap in a different direction. Like a schizophrenic uncle or a cranky girlfriend, the team shifts personalities on a dime and leaves spectators and media wondering which version is the real one. So, which one is it?