After recent snow pushed the MSU softball team’s doubleheader with Purdue to today, the Spartans spent Wednesday’s practice catching up for lost time. Because of scheduling and bad weather, the team wasn’t able to practice on the field for nearly a week, something the team will try to counter as it prepares for one of the fastest teams in the Big Ten, head coach Jacquie Joseph said.
The MSU men’s basketball team ended its 2008-09 season in the national championship game Monday night, overcoming injuries, illnesses and naysayers throughout the season. With a final record of 31-7, this year’s team etched its name in the program record book with the third-most wins in program history.
MSU guards Chris Allen and Korie Lucious will undergo surgery Friday to repair broken bones in their right feet, according to an MSU Athletic Communications release.
The MSU men’s basketball team fell one game short of the mountaintop Monday, losing to North Carolina 89-72 in the National Championship at Ford Field. But don’t despair, Spartans fans, because MSU will be back on college basketball’s biggest stage next season. With a talented nucleus of players set to return, MSU should enter the 2009 campaign as a top-five team in the nation and a foolproof favorite (I’m looking at you, Digger Phelps) to return to the Final Four.
The MSU men’s basketball team finished the season at No. 2 in the final USA Today/ESPN poll released Tuesday. National champion North Carolina received all 31 first-place votes.
The MSU softball team’s doubleheader against Purdue, originally scheduled for today, has been moved to Thursday, according to MSU Athletic Communications.
The MSU baseball team has been perfect at home this season and nearly the complete opposite away from East Lansing. This week, the Spartans will have a chance to right that ship while also making a dent in the Big Ten standings early in the conference schedule.
Fans are encouraged to welcome the MSU men’s basketball team back to campus between 11-11:15 a.m. today at Breslin Center.
Detroit — Before the start of Monday’s game, North Carolina guard Wayne Ellington said he and MSU senior guard Travis Walton were immersed in some friendly trash talk. As soon as the ball was tipped, Ellington was anything but friendly.
Detroit — Travis Walton had it all figured out. The MSU senior guard was going to climb the ladder and cut down the Ford Field net with “One Shining Moment” playing in the background on Monday night, celebrating the 2009 NCAA national championship. Instead, it was North Carolina and Tyler Hansbrough who lived Walton’s dream, as the Tar Heels beat the MSU men’s basketball team 89-72.
As he trudged off the court for the final game of his sophomore season, Kalin Lucas looked ruefully into a colossal sea of green. His head bowed and shoulders slumped, the guard looked like he had done much more than lose a basketball game — he looked like he had just let down the world.
Same two teams. Same venue. Same sad story for the MSU men’s basketball team. Four months after thumping the Spartans by 35 points at Ford Field, North Carolina came back to the Motor City on Monday night and reaffirmed that it is the best team in the nation, as the Tar Heels throttled MSU 89-72 to claim the 2009 NCAA national championship.
Detroit – As the Spartans left halftime down more than 20 points, the mood outside Ford Field was somber and disappointing among fans. Compared to Saturday’s crowd of some 5,000 fans, not many fans were gathered outside the arena tonight. A couple dozen were seen leaving Ford Field at halftime, with about 100 people mingling outside.
A crowd of about 9,000 fans gathered at Breslin Center for a special viewing party tonight to watch the men’s basketball team vie for the national title against North Carolina via a video feed from Detroit.
After watching North Carolina embarrass MSU during the ACC-Big Ten Challenge in December, I left Ford Field absolutely convinced of two things. 1) The Tar Heels would be back here for the national championship game. 2) They wouldn’t be playing MSU. Hey, one-for-two ain’t too shabby.
Tom Izzo is a realist. The MSU men’s basketball head coach knows that if both MSU and North Carolina play “good” in tonight’s NCAA national championship game, then the trophy is going to the Tar Heels. “That’s the way I look at it,” Izzo said at his press conference on Sunday at Ford Field. “I mean, I don’t look at that in the negative. They are the best team in the country, and have been that. (They) have earned that rank probably over a year and a half. But we found a way to have some teams not play as good against us.”
The MSU men’s tennis team suffered a disappointing loss to Penn State on Sunday, dropping the team to 0-6 in the Big Ten. MSU’s doubles teams went 1-2 on the day, with No. 2 doubles sophomore John Stratton and senior Alex Forger being the only team with a win, 8-5. Singles only walked away with two wins, making the final score 5-2 for Penn State.
Among the tens of thousands of MSU fans who flocked to Detroit this weekend for the Final Four, there were thousands of alumni and even a few connected with the MSU men’s basketball program.
The road ends here. The Final Four’s catchphrase holds true tonight in Detroit when the No. 2-seed MSU men’s basketball (31-6) team will meet No. 1-seed North Carolina (33-4) in the national championship game at 9:21 p.m. at Ford Field.
Call it fate. Call it destiny. Call it kismet. All those adjectives will be applicable Monday night, when the MSU men’s basketball team get a second chance to take down North Carolina at Ford Field.