Austin Thornton came to MSU four years ago as a lights-out shooter. But in the three years since his redshirt season, head coach Tom Izzo said Thornton had yet to put that jumper on display. On Friday, Thornton found his stroke, going 3-for-5 from the field and making all four of his free throw attempts.
Led by senior guard Kalin Lucas’ 18 points and 6 assists, MSU beat Eastern Michigan, 96-66, Friday at Breslin Center.
The No. 2 MSU men’s basketball team kicks off the 2010-11 season today, and the players say past faults are being worked on and chemistry is up to help the team obtain the ultimate prize: the National Title.
Can expectations be too high? For the No. 2 MSU men’s basketball team, they couldn’t be any higher. The tone was set from day one: national championship or bust.
In its final tune-up game before the regular season tips off Friday, the No. 2 MSU men’s basketball team defeated Nebraska-Omaha, 102-72, Monday in an exhibition game at Breslin Center.
Senior guard Kalin Lucas scored a game-high 13 points and dished out three assists in his first game since rupturing his Achilles’, as the No. 2 MSU men’s basketball team beat Saginaw Valley State, 88-44, on Tuesday at Breslin Center.
With several men’s basketball players still coming back from injuries, players noted freshmen guard Keith Appling, center Adreian Payne and forward Alex Gauna as incoming players expected to greatly contribute to the program’s success.
Students tossed footballs and roasted hot dogs over bonfires among the multicolored rows of tents, which filled Munn field Friday night.
After a summer full of injuries, the MSU men’s basketball team is beginning to get everyone back on the court.
MSU men’s basketball senior guards Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers were named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 List, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Monday
The two-time defending Big Ten Champion MSU men’s basketball team will be featured on ESPN’s College GameDay twice next season, including a visit to Breslin Center in February.
The world of college sports usually is a boring one during the summer months. After March Madness — the most exciting two and a half weeks in all of sports — and spring football are complete, there is not much to look forward to between April and August when it comes to major college sports. However, not only was summer 2010 far more intriguing than most summers, it also will end up playing a significant role in the future of MSU athletics.
For the third time in school history, the MSU men’s basketball team will take on the Chaminade Swords when the two teams play in the opening round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational at 9:30 p.m. Nov. 22 in Maui, Hawaii. It will be the first time the two teams have faced each other since 2005, when the Spartans beat the Swords, 89-67, also at the Maui Invitational.
MSU men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo has been selected to drive the pace car Aug. 15 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series CARFAX 400, speedway officials announced Thursday.
A lot has happened in the last 1,000 days. Three different national champions have been crowned in college basketball, the first non-white U.S. president has taken office and three separate “Twilight” movies have been released, making obsessive girls around the globe decide between Team Edward or Team Jacob. But not once, in all that time, has Michigan defeated MSU in football or men’s basketball, the two biggest college sports in the country.
Although it is one of the most recognizable student sections in college basketball, the Izzone typically went unnoticed on TV during Spartan basketball games. Instead of getting a glimpse of some of the 1,500 screaming students bouncing up and down, anyone watching the game more likely was going to see a section of alumni, family and recruits. Starting next season, though, the perspective will be slightly different for TV viewers, as the lower section of the Izzone along the sidelines will be moved to the other side, putting it front and center on TV.
For the past 10 years, the only thing more predictable than MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo making the Final Four about every other season is his name being thrown into the mix as a candidate for every high-profile coaching job in the country. So, if no school or franchise has been able to lure the Iron Mountain, Mich. native away from Spartan Country before, why would this time be any different?
In an effort to increase funds and also reward loyal and generous Spartan fans, the MSU athletic department is conducting a seat adjustment in Breslin Center for men’s basketball games effective in the 2010-11 season.
The MSU men’s basketball and men’s swimming teams received Public Recognition Awards from the NCAA on May 12 for garnering some of the best Academic Progress Rates in the country.
MSU will play Duke University Dec. 1 as part of the 12th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The teams will face off at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. It will be the second consecutive time MSU has played against a defending national champion in the Challenge.