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Sports | Basketball Men's 1000

SPORTS

The Recovery

The MSU secondary faced its share of adversity last season. Senior cornerback Cedric Henry was made academically ineligible two weeks before the season-opener, and roughly two months later, senior cornerback DeMario Suggs and then-freshman free safety Jason Harmon broke their ankles in practice on consecutive days. Their injuries healed.

SPORTS

Heisman watch

With the first Heisman Trophy showdown behind us, the race for college football’s most prestigious award is starting to take shape.

SPORTS

HARDY: Big Ten needs to prove itself in key matchups

It’s time to polish my red-striped, pigskin-predicting tool - the Magic Big Ten Ball - as top-ranked Big Ten squads battle the nation’s best on a Saturday, forecasting the conference champion. Every team brings perfect records to the 100-yard table in these key matchups of Ohio State vs.

VOLLEYBALL

Transfer ready to lead

Three years ago an athlete described as having “competitive fire” was a coveted recruit.The Spartans lost the recruiting battle as Sara Villwock chose to stay close to home and attend Colorado.After two years of leading the Buffaloes’ volleyball team to as far as the second round in the NCAA Regionals, the junior outside hitter wanted to compete for a national championship.“I felt like I wanted more and I needed a change,” Villwock said.

SPORTS

Sports briefs

Pistons to visit E.L. Members of the Detroit Pistons will visit the Lansing area for the third consecutive year.

SPORTS

Lugnuts down 2-0, remain optimistic

The Lansing Lugnuts have made it to the Midwest League finals for just the second time in franchise history, but have a great task ahead of them if they want to snag the championship like they did in 1997. In 1997 the Lugnuts trailed the Kane County Cougars 2-0.

BASKETBALL

Spartan heads to Cleaves-land

After one year on the West Coast, former Spartan star Mateen Cleaves is headed back to the Midwest in search of some playing time.Cleaves, a point guard, was traded from the Sacramento Kings to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday in exchange for second-year forward Jumaine Jones.

BASKETBALL

Trustees to vote on contract extension

The MSU Board of Trustees will vote to approve a one-year contract extension for men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo at its meeting Friday.The extension would keep Izzo at the helm of the Spartan program until June 30, 2009.And although the board must vote to make the extension official, trustee David Porteous said the deal is as good as done.“He does a great job, and we’re fortunate at MSU to have Tom Izzo,” Porteous said.

FOOTBALL

Knott finds niche in Spartan offense

Sophomore tight end Eric Knott is proving why he was considered the nation’s No. 1 tight end recruit coming out of Detroit’s Henry Ford High in 1999.In his junior and senior seasons at Henry Ford he caught 72 passes for 1,186 yards and 15 touchdowns.In just two games at his natural position, Knott is already starting to put up similar numbers.Despite not getting the start against Eastern Michigan in the season-opener, Knott pulled down six catches for 69 yards and two touchdowns.

SPORTS

Recent loss coincidence, or part of something bigger

Can you remember when the men’s basketball team won the NCAA National Championship in 2000? MSU finished 32-7 that year, but it wasn’t all highs during that season. On a cold December evening, the Spartans took a 9-3 record down to Dayton, Ohio, for a contest with the 2-8 Wright State. As 23-point favorites, the Spartans were expecting a relatively easy contest.

FOOTBALL

Rogers honored, tackle gets promotion

After reviewing a tape from Saturday’s 27-10 win over Rice, one thing was clear to Spartan head coach Bobby Williams. “After looking at the film, we probably should have thrown it to (junior wide receiver) Charles (Rogers) 10 to 15 more times,” he said.

ICE HOCKEY

Two players leave team

Right wing Steve Jackson and forward Pat Brush have both left the Spartan hockey team, MSU head coach Rick Comley confirmed Monday.Jackson, who would have been a senior, and Brush, who would have been a junior, are the third and fourth players to prematurely leave the team since Comley replaced Ron Mason in March.Last month, junior goaltender Ryan Miller left the Spartans to sign with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres and sophomore defenseman Aaron Hundt transferred to Wayne State.Both Jackson and Brush voluntarily quit the team, Comley said.

SOCCER

Spartans take two at home, still perfect

The women’s soccer team continued its perfect season by picking up two wins over the weekend.In addition to dominating the first three teams they’ve played in the 2002 season, MSU (3-0) has managed to preserve the team’s goal by successfully defending its home turf, Old College Field.

VOLLEYBALL

Team upset in finals

Kalamazoo - It was the upset of all upsets.Unfortunately for the MSU women’s volleyball team, they weren’t on the winning end.After reaching the WMU Invitational championship game, the No.

FOOTBALL

When Owls attack

The Rice Owls lost 27-10 on Saturday, but they provided a blueprint for success for the 10 remaining teams on the Spartans’ schedule. With a relentless blitz, Rice confused MSU’s offensive line all day.

SOCCER

MSU wins, despite poor play

The Spartan men’s soccer team added a win to its record over the weekend, downing Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis on Sunday, 2-1.Perhaps it was the sweltering heat, or maybe the fact that IUPUI (0-4) was shutout against Michigan in an 8-0 loss in its last game, but when MSU (2-1) took the field, it looked anything but prepared to do battle.“Even in the warm-ups we didn’t seem very spirited,” Spartan head coach Joe Baum said.