It’s been a dream for Kenny Kaminski to take the floor at a big college basketball program. Now, his dream is a reality. The redshirt freshman forward stepped onto the court at Breslin Center for the first time last Monday against Portland.
It seemed like another close match for the No. 1 men’s basketball team, but Adreian Payne the Spartans finished the game blowing the doors off of Virginia Tech, 96-77.
For the first time ever, No. 1 Michigan State will be tipping off against Virginia Tech tonight at the Coaches vs. Cancer semifinals in Brooklyn, N.Y. (9:30 p.m., TruTV) Head coach Tom Izzo said after practice Wednesday that, even after looking at tape, there still are surprises within the Hokies’ team.
Watching the Green and White his whole life, one of Carter Godfrey’s greatest memories was watching the 2000 Spartans win the national title. Now, 13 years later, the agribusiness management junior and the rest of the Izzone are watching their Spartans play as the top-ranked team in the nation. “It’s never been like this in the Izzone before, where there are 700 people waiting outside two hours before the game starts,” the Izzone section leader said. “This year, the upper bowl is way bigger than it ever has been and the campout was three times bigger than it was last year.” The Spartans grabbed the No. 1 ranking in the AP and coaches polls for the first time in nearly 13 years Monday, giving the MSU faithful high hopes as team football team wraps up an impressive season.
For the first time in nearly 13 years, the men’s basketball team is sitting on top of the latest AP poll.
With a win over No. 1 Kentucky in the Champions Classic mere days prior and a real shot at reaching the top of the polls, the No. 2 MSU basketball team faced a 26-22 halftime deficit to Columbia at home Friday night.
MSU trails Columbia 26-22 at halftime. Senior center Adreian Payne leads the Spartans with nine points, five boards, and a pair of steals and blocks.
It’s been 4,965 days since the MSU men’s basketball team has been ranked the top team in the nation. But if the No. 2 Spartans (2-0 overall) beat Columbia (1-1) and Portland (1-1) this weekend, MSU most likely will reclaim the No. 1 ranking. The last time an MSU squad has topped the polls was on Jan. 7, 2001.
CHICAGO — He might have said No. 2 MSU didn’t have anything to prove, but Keith Appling proved a little something to the many NBA scouts in attendance for MSU’s 78-74 win against No. 1 Kentucky in the Champions Classic on Tuesday night. While many scouts were at the United Center in Chicago to see likely lottery picks, such as Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins and Julius Randle, MSU’s senior point guard quietly posted one of the best games of the night and of his career.
It did not take long for No. 1 MSU to take the lead against No. 1 Kentucky, and at the end of the first half Tuesday night at the Champions Classic in Chicago, MSU leads 44-32. MSU opened the game on a 10-0 run thanks to a floater by sophomore guard Gary Harris, and a steal and breakaway dunk by senior guard Keith Appling.
As his team prepares for tipoff in a highly touted contest against No. 1 Kentucky in Chicago, head coach Tom Izzo said Monday he can’t remember a non-Final Four matchup with as much national buzz as tonight’s Champions Classic is receiving.
Each and every day, Travis Trice is working to prove himself. On a team with four- and five-star talent, such as Gary Harris, Keith Appling, Adreian Payne and Branden Dawson, Trice can sometimes be lost in the shuffle.
This time last year, Branden Dawson and Travis Trice were coming off of a summer where neither were able play and develop. Dawson, a junior forward, was recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament he sustained in the final regular season game against Ohio State during his freshman year.
The No. 2 MSU men’s basketball team pushed the pace — and cruised to a win. The Spartans (1-0 overall) won the first home opener at Breslin Center since 2010 by beating McNesse State, 98-56.
The regular season has yet to start, but recent rule changes by the NCAA for basketball already have been affecting both men’s and women’s teams at MSU and across the country.
They ran in transition. They showed off improved jumpers and mechanics. They eventually settled into the suffocating defense MSU has become known for under head coach Tom Izzo in their first public performance of the highly-anticipated 2013-14 season.
Basketball season is upon us. After the first half of the first exhibition game, the No. 2 MSU men’s basketball team leads Grand Valley State, 47-24.
It’s only a preseason game, but the No. 2-ranked men’s basketball team will kick off its highly anticipated season at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Breslin Center against Grand Valley State. The Spartans only have three games, including preseason, before they travel to Chicago on Nov. 12 to partake in the Champions Classic against the nation’s No. 1 team, Kentucky.
When Alvin Ellis III was sitting down on Breslin Center’s floor during last week’s media day, with more than 14,000 empty seats above him, his mind went back to Midnight Madness. Before his name was the first one called to introduce the team, Ellis nervously waited walking down the stairs with Future’s “Chosen One” ?blaring from the speakers. But once he emerged, Ellis got a ?feeling for what he will be in for when thousands of seats are filled with a sea of green and white on gameday.
There’s no need to remind them – they already know. The minute the game clock read zeros at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis last March, ending MSU’s season in the Sweet 16, another clock started ticking.