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Sports | Basketball Men's 1037

SPORTS

Team not concerned by poor play in tune-ups, turnovers 'a freak thing'

Ethan Conley
November 15, 2005

Based on his team's performance in its first two exhibition games, MSU head coach Tom Izzo said the Spartans are playing well enough to win just one game in their upcoming trip to Hawaii. Since the Spartans are scheduled to play at least three games during their jaunt to the tropics, some improvement is obviously needed — especially with the prospect of games against such top-tier programs as Arizona, Connecticut, Kansas, and Maryland in the Maui Invitational. The Spartans committed 41 total turnovers in their exhibition games against Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan, playing sloppily and out of synch. Sophomore point guard Drew Neitzel said the Spartans' failure to protect the ball and value each possession was out of character for the team.

FOOTBALL

Record hasn't hurt recruiting

Matt Bishop
November 15, 2005

After starting the season 4-0, many thought recruiting would become easy for MSU head coach John L. Smith. Since then, though, the team has fallen to 5-5 overall and the opposite is being said for the Spartans recruiting efforts. But has it really become harder? "It hasn't," Smith said.

SPORTS

Spartans out of tune in tune-ups

Ethan Conley
November 14, 2005

The MSU men's basketball team was far from impressive during its victory over Northern Michigan in an exhibition game on Saturday night. The Spartans defeated the Wildcats, 77-58, but committed 26 turnovers, including 15 in the first half. MSU head coach Tom Izzo said he was upset with the team's failure to protect the basketball, but attributed some of the sloppiness to the different combinations of lineups he used throughout the exhibition.

SOCCER

MSU loses in tourney, NCAA bid in jeopardy

Alex Abate
November 14, 2005

The MSU men's soccer team wasn't able to defend its Big Ten championship from last season as it lost to Penn State 2-0 in the semifinals of this year's Big Ten Tournament on Friday. Penn State, which went undefeated in conference play, took the lead midway through the first period, then added another goal in the 89th minute to ice the game. The Nittany Lions were the eventual tournament champions. The Spartans (8-6-5) will find out if their season is over or not today when the NCAA Tournament field is selected.

SPORTS

Monday musings

Tom Keller
November 14, 2005

• Former Spartan hockey great Jim Slater, now with the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers, scored his first We're still waiting for Agim Shabaj to score his first NFL touchdown. • The Sacramento Kings are in a bit of hot water after last week's game against the Detroit Pistons, in which they showed images of abandoned buildings, burned-out cars and trashy streets on their overhead screens during Detroit's pregame introductions. • If the Pistons are looking for a little revenge, here's a suggestion.

FOOTBALL

Dropped passes, missed tackles still factors

Matt Bishop
November 14, 2005

Minneapolis, Minn. — Old demons continue to haunt MSU. Once again, drops by MSU's receivers and poor tackling by the MSU defense contributed heavily to the team's 41-18 loss to Minnesota on Saturday. Sophomore wide receiver Terry Love dropped the ball on two consecutive plays — one a deep bomb that would've put MSU inside the red zone, the next, a bubble screen. "The drops today were a nightmare," Love said.

VOLLEYBALL

WEB ONLY: Spartans sweep conference foe at home

Yvette Lanier
November 14, 2005

The MSU women's volleyball team (12-14 overall, 5-11 Big Ten) easily defeated Indiana (9-19, 2-14 Big Ten) for the second time this season, sweeping them 3-0 at Jension Field House on Saturday. It was the Spartans' first Big Ten sweep at home this season. After jumping out to an early 11-9 lead in the first set, the Spartans' offense caught fire, hitting at a .286 clip to give them the 1-0 advantage.

FOOTBALL

Players, coaches: We haven't quit

Matt Bishop
November 14, 2005

Minneapolis, Minn. — The sun was shining brightly over East Lansing during the month of September for the MSU football team. The team started out 4-0 and was riding high after an overtime victory at Notre Dame followed by a 61-point effort at Illinois. Then, something happened.

ICE HOCKEY

Spartans swept at home as UNO takes two

Esther Gim
November 14, 2005

The MSU hockey team had fewer than 30 seconds left to play before escaping Saturday with a tie. But Nebraska-Omaha forward Scott Parse picked up the puck on a turnover behind the MSU net and fed it up to forward Bill Thomas, who beat MSU freshman goaltender Jeff Lerg on the bottom corner with 27.2 seconds left in overtime. With the 3-2 win, the Mavericks completed a weekend sweep over the No.

SPORTS

WEB ONLY: Wrestlers host preseason event

Eric Fish
November 11, 2005

The MSU wrestling team will host the Michigan State Open at Jenison Field House this Saturday and Sunday in preseason wrestling action. Although no team scores are kept for the tournament, medals are awarded to the top eight wrestlers in each weight class.

SPORTS

WEB ONLY: MSU hosts tennis tourney this weekend

Eric Fish
November 11, 2005

The MSU men's tennis team is set to host the Big Ten Indoor Championship this weekend in the second tournament of the Spartans' fall season. The Spartans will be represented by sophomore Nick Rinks, juniors Joseph McWilliams and Michael Flowers, and freshmen Alex Forger, John Allare and Scott Rasmussen out of a 64-player main draw. The tournament will start at 9 a.m.

SPORTS

Spartans host GVSU Sunday

Chris Barsotti
November 11, 2005

The No. 10 MSU women's basketball team will have one more chance to tune up for the regular season when it hosts Grand Valley State in an exhibition game at 2 p.m.

BASKETBALL

Don't worry Brown will play

Ethan Conley
November 11, 2005

The men's basketball team was given a brief scare recently when one of its most indispensable players went down with an injury. Junior guard Shannon Brown sustained a bruised rib during an exhibition game Monday against Lake Superior State when he collided with redshirt freshman forward Marquise Gray.

SPORTS

WEB ONLY: Irish visit East Lansing for meet

Chris Barsotti
November 11, 2005

The MSU men's swimming and diving team will host No. 18 Notre Dame at 5 p.m. on Friday at the Charles McCaffree Pool. These two teams have split the last four contests between each other. The Spartans enter the match with a 1-2 dual meet record and Notre Dame enters with a 2-1 record.

SOCCER

MSU wins in 1st round

Alex Abate
November 11, 2005

With a great defensive effort, the men's soccer team moved one step closer to another Big Ten Tournament title by defeating rival Michigan 1-0 Thursday. "We played the best second half we have had all year," head coach Joe Baum said.