After a stressful opening month to the season that began with the No. 13 MSU men’s basketball team (6-2) traveling across the pond to Germany, flying to Atlanta four days later to face the then No. 7 team in the country, then playing a stretch of four games in one week, the Spartans needed a laugher, and Saturday they got one.
After Saturday night’s 3-1 loss to Ohio State (7-4-3 overall, 6-2-2-1 CCHA), MSU’s Matt Grassi noted the Spartans only made two or three mistakes that night.
The game was over and Milwaukee wanted to leave the floor, but glass lying across the court stood in their path, leaving the Panthers didn’t know what to do. A light bulb in Breslin Center appeared to have shattered in fitting fashion: the Spartans had shot the lights out and Milwaukee didn’t have an answer.
For just the second time in school history, the MSU women’s basketball team is 7-0 after demolishing Milwaukee (3-4) 81-50 on Saturday evening.
It was a total team effort as the MSU women’s basketball team improved to 7-0 for only the second time in program history with a 81-50 win over Milwaukee (3-3) on Saturday.
Earlier in the week, the No. 13 MSU basketball team was paid a visit by a familiar face.
After nearly a week of sluggish and generally ineffective play, the MSU men’s basketball team needed a strong showing to get its swagger back. Playing against Nicholls State on Saturday at Breslin Center, an energetic performance including having four players in double-figures gave the team that chance.
Tom Anastos said he didn’t want to compare Friday night’s game to a heavyweight boxing match, but it’s difficult to find a better analogy to describe the MSU hockey team’s (4-7-2 overall, 3-5-1 CCHA) 1-0 loss to Ohio State. For 60 minutes, both teams clawed, fought and battled at a mostly even keel, exchanging punch after punch. Almost 58 minutes into the game, the Buckeyes threw a punch that knocked the Spartans out of the match, as Ohio State’s Ryan Dzingel picked up a rebound off MSU freshman goaltender Jake Hildebrand to put away the only score of the night. “It was a style of game that we prepared for,” Anastos, the second-year MSU head coach, said.
It wasn’t easy, but the MSU volleyball team now is heading to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year after beating San Diego in five hard fought sets (25-19, 23-25, 25-20, 18-25, 15-11).
The MSU wrestling team might have lost 22-12 on Friday night, but the young Spartans gave No. 17 Edinboro more than it expected.
It was a night filled with career and season highs as the MSU women’s basketball team defeated North Carolina State 68-51 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge to improve to 6-0 for the fourth time in program history.
When the MSU football team walked off the field victoriously one week ago in Minneapolis, the Spartans (6-6 overall, 3-5 Big Ten) clinched bowl eligibility and a return to postseason play for the sixth time in Mark Dantonio’s tenure as head coach.
Even in the clouds of defeat, the MSU basketball team has found its silver lining.
It has been more than three months since MSU volleyball’s season started, and they now are hours away from starting the most crucial portion of the year: the NCAA Tournament.
Before a national audience in the first game of the season, Bell established himself as the Spartans’ main offensive threat, carrying the ball a 2012 NCAA single game-high 44 times for 210 yards and MSU’s only two touchdowns.
It’s no secret junior running back Le’Veon Bell has had a phenomenal 2012. Bell has done a lot of heavy lifting for the Spartans (6-6 overall, 3-5 Big Ten) this season and, in doing so, has pieced together one of the most impressive rushing campaigns in MSU history.
When Ohio State hockey took Spartan ice for its first ever match up at MSU in 1970, the Buckeyes were handed a 4-2 loss. The pattern continued for almost 25 years, as MSU went 29-0-1 against Ohio State at home until Feb. 4, 1994 when the Spartans were defeated, 5-4, by the Buckeyes on home turf.
When the MSU wrestling team (1-0) takes on No. 17 Edinboro at 7 p.m. Friday at Jenison Field House, both mind and body must be in peak condition if the Spartans want to take down the Fighting Scots.
With the holiday season ahead, the MSU hockey team (4-6-2 overall, 3-4-1 CCHA) is taking time off the ice to turn its attention to those in need in Greater Lansing.
In front of nearly 4,000 fans in Austin, Texas, a year ago, the MSU volleyball team saw its season come to an end in the NCAA Tournament against No. 1-seeded Texas. Not only did the loss knock the Spartans out of the Big Dance, but it closed the book on head coach Cathy George’s winningest team since she came to MSU in 2005.