SPORTS
Leadership, maturity: The missing elements
The MSU women’s basketball team’s two-game skid has nothing to do with being a bad team.According to coach Joanne P.
ICE HOCKEY
Freshman continues to make impact
Trailing Ohio State 3-2 on the road with his team’s CCHA lead hanging in the balance, MSU head coach Ron Mason had to make a switch.Big, strong Buckeye centers R.J.
SPORTS
Super Bowl: Partying key as game itself
Call it Super Bowl FunDay, not Sunday. It’s the one day out of the year that the Sabbath (in the Christian sense) can be forgotten and the gods of the gridiron are worshiped from kickoff ’til the clock expires. Sure, during the National Football League’s regular season there are 17 weeks of play to be witnessed.
FOOTBALL
Top running backs look to replace Duckett
A roll of thunder and a jolt of lightning may be just what the Spartan running attack needs to fill the void left by junior running back T.J.
SPORTS
Womens hoops cant keep up with Hoosiers
All it took was a lackluster second half for the MSU women’s basketball team to fall to Indiana 67-55 at Assembly Hall on Sunday. “I really don’t think our team rose to the occasion,” Spartan head coach Joanne P.
ICE HOCKEY
2 games, no winner in weekend series
Columbus - While MSU head coach Ron Mason got the two points he wanted out of a weekend trip to Ohio State, Michigan still sliced the Spartans’ CCHA lead in half.With the Wolverines sweeping Lake Superior State, and MSU and OSU skating to a pair of 3-3 ties, the Spartans’ lead shrunk from four to two points with six CCHA games remaining.“Definitely, it matters,” junior defenseman Brad Fast said.
SPORTS
Womens swimming and diving team ends home schedule with win
The MSU women divers made sure John Narcy, the women’s diving coach, had a successful final home meet. As MSU women’s swimming and diving team closed the regular season with a win over Northern Michigan, 132.5-89.5 on Saturday in East Lansing, his divers achieved their highest scores of the season.
BASKETBALL
Squad rallies behind Taylor
Champaign, Ill. - Despite playing without sophomore guard Marcus Taylor for most of the second half, the Spartans hung on to upset No.
BASKETBALL
Illinois Cook keeps game within reach in first half
Champaign, Ill. - Forward Brian Cook carried No. 12 Illinois against the Spartans in the first half Sunday at Assembly Hall. But after scoring 20 points in that half, the 6-foot-10, 240 -pounderonly scored two points in the second half as MSU (13-8 overall, 4-4) routed the Illini (15-7, 4-5) 67-61.
ICE HOCKEY
Icers look to finish 4-game series at Ohio State
It’s time to do it again. The setting shifts to Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio, but the teams remain the same as No.
BASKETBALL
Spartans ready for Illinois
Despite No. 12 Illinois’ two-game losing streak, the MSU men’s basketball team will have its hands full Sunday at Assembly Hall. The Illini (15-6 overall, 4-4 Big Ten) haven’t lost a Big Ten game at home this season, but they are coming off a 78-67 loss to conference leader No.
SPORTS
Sports briefs
Wrestling The men’s wrestling team hits the road this weekend for matches with No.
SPORTS
Top-ranked Purdue poses next challenge
The MSU women’s basketball team arguably made its most profound statement of the season beating No.
ICE HOCKEY
Enforcer commands respect
When Brian Maloney is on the ice, people take notice. And referees and opposing players have started to take extra notice. That’s because the 6-foot-1, 208-pound junior left wing has earned a reputation as one of the CCHA’s toughest enforcers. Maloney, 23, is the oldest and most-penalized player on the Spartans - the least-penalized team in the CCHA.
SPORTS
Sports briefs
Spartans lose recruit A hard-hitting linebacker from Ohio decided Wednesday that staying in the Buckeye State was his best choice. Bobby Carpenter will not be playing for the green and white next season - he’ll be playing for Ohio State University. The 6-foot-3, 235 pound linebacker from Lancaster High School picked the Buckeyes instead of MSU, Northwestern and North Carolina. “Location was a factor,” Carpenter said, whose family lives 30 miles from Columbus. Carpenter said getting a chance to see his three younger brothers compete was a factor, but family wasn’t the biggest reason. Carpenter made his decision Monday morning, but MSU remained a top candidate until that point. “They have a great program and a great coaching staff,” he said.
BASKETBALL
Amaker new to rivalry
Ann Arbor - Tommy Amaker has never seen a Michigan-MSU basketball game in its entirety. But even though tonight’s game is the 36-year-old U-M head coach’s first experience with the rivalry, he’s no stranger to big games. As a four-year starter at Duke from 1984-87, Amaker was center stage for one of college basketball’s greatest rivalries - Duke vs.
ICE HOCKEY
Peers praise Masons legacy
MSU head coach Ron Mason’s decision to leave the hockey program and become MSU athletics director surprised many of his colleagues across the nation. “We’re certainly going to miss him at a collegiate hockey level,” Boston College head coach Jerry York said.
SPORTS
Spartans want revenge
The MSU women’s basketball team is looking for retribution following a loss to Wisconsin three weeks ago. The Badgers defeated the Spartans 86-78 in double overtime Jan.
ICE HOCKEY
Decision ripples through program
Ron Mason’s crossover from head hockey coach to athletics director will have profound implications for the world of Spartan hockey.
ICE HOCKEY
Replacement put on hold
Nobody really saw it coming, but now that hockey head coach Ron Mason has officially announced he’s vacating his post of 23 years, coaches across the country are expected to start printing out their résumés and sending them to East Lansing.Current MSU assistants Tom Newton and Dave McAuliffe have clearly stated they want the job, but those outside the Spartan hockey program face a stickier situation if they are interested.Rumors have Denver head coach George Gwozdecky, an MSU assistant from 1984-89, in the pole position for the job, but his No.