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Strong Iowa team presents tough game
It doesn’t get any easier from here on out. Following the No. 7 MSU men’s basketball team 80-75 “loss to No.
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Williams creates spark for MSU with increased playing time
After Thursday’s loss to Illinois, the women’s basketball team had no answers for the two-game slump.
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At press conference, Izzo praises Appling's effort in U-M loss
Two days after sitting in the locker room with tears in his eyes after losing to Michigan, senior guard Keith Appling was nearly all smiles at Monday’s press conference.
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Black and blue
Keith Appling is tough, but he’s not Superman. The senior guard fought his way through 37 minutes in the No.
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Izzo right to be proud of players
When MSU fans were sulking after the 80-75 loss to No. 21 Michigan, Tom Izzo took the podium to address the heartbreaking game. “In the 30 years I’ve been here, I’ve never been more proud of a team,” he said. Wait, what? MSU just dropped a game against their rival to fall behind in the Big Ten title race, and he used the word “proud?” Well, as weird as it seems to say after losing such a marquee game, he’s right on the money. There is no question the Wolverines deserved to win Saturday’s game — they hit all the shots when they needed to in front of the delirious Breslin Center crowd. Yet at the same time, the Spartans took a few steps in the right direction without two of their biggest players. Missing two starters in Adreian Payne and Branden Dawson, Izzo was forced to play some guys who usually only see the court during warmups. Besides Gary Harris’s 27 points and Keith Appling’s double-double, freshman guard Alvin Ellis was the bright point during a loss at the hands of the Wolverines. To be honest, Ellis looked like anything but a first-year player.
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Harlem Globetrotters bring tradition to MSU
For some Harlem Globetrotters fans, it’s the power of the tradition that keeps them coming back.
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MSU women's basketball beats Ohio State on road, 82-68
Career games from freshman guard Tori Jankoska and redshirt junior center Madison Williams made the difference for the women’s basketball team Sunday afternoon.
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Women's basketball leads OSU 37-32 in Columbus
Junior center Madison Williams was the difference for MSU in the first half. After missing two of the previous three games, she blocked a career-high six shots in 10 minutes of action, spurring a 13-0 run to help the Spartans take a 37-32 lead over Ohio State on the road at halftime.
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MSU sees contributions from other players with Dawson, Payne on bench
Sophomore guard Gary Harris and senior guard Keith Appling might have carried the No. 3 MSU men’s basketball team as far as they could Saturday night, but it was the unsung heroes that nearly pulled the game out. Players like junior guard Russell Byrd, freshman guard Alvin Ellis and freshman forward Gavin Schilling stepped up and mad big plays to keep the Spartans in it. “I had some guys who stepped up,” head coach Tom Izzo said.
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Spartans fall to U-M after Wolverine comeback, 80-75
At times it was ear-splitting at Breslin Center, as the MSU faithful saw their No. 3 Spartans control the better part of the game against the No.
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MSU men's basketball up on Michigan at halftime, 36-30
You can probably hear it from wherever you are sitting, but the fans at Breslin Center like what they’re seeing against their No.
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ESPN's College GameDay electrifies Breslin Center
The Breslin Center was electric nearly ten hours before tip-off as ESPN’s College GameDay returned to East Lansing for the first time since 2011.
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GameDay visit brings former Wolverine Rose back to East Lansing
Before he was an analyst on ESPN’s College GameDay, Jalen Rose spent his college days playing for one of Michigan’s greatest teams. Now, with the show heading to East Lansing, Rose is spending some time back in enemy territory, and MSU fans are making sure he knows it. “People are going to say stuff, or say ‘Hey Jalen, what you doing up here?’ or remind me of games where they won or when they yelled things at me,” Rose said while meeting with the media on Friday.
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Bring On The Wolverines
No ancient language had a word for blue. Instead, they just referred to the color as a shade of black, or in some instances, green.
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Dawson's injury leaves hole for Spartans
While watching TV clips from MSU’s game against Indiana on Thursday, junior forward Branden Dawson let his anger get the best of him — and his right hand.
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Illinois comes back to beat MSU women's basketball, 61-51
Same story, different day. In a virtual repeat of Sunday’s 66-54 loss against Penn State, the women’s basketball team (12-7 overall, 4-2 Big Ten) could not maintain a consistent level of effort for 40 minutes of basketball, falling to Illinois (9-10, 2-4) 61-51 despite leading 33-25 early in the second half.
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Women's basketball up on Illinois at halftime by 3
The women’s basketball team leads Illinois 28-25 at halftime. Mills was the primary source of offense for the Spartans early, scoring MSU’s first seven points.
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Dawson out 4-5 weeks with broken bone in hand
While watching TV clips from their game against Indiana Thursday, junior forward Branden Dawson let his anger get the best of him.
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Schilling, Ellis deal with new transitions
The freshman transition can be tough for most students, but not a lot of college newcomers are experiencing what Gavin Schilling and Alvin Ellis III are going through. The men’s basketball team’s freshmen duo is dealing with the everyday stresses of college courses and getting accustomed to a new home.
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MSU football, basketball programs have faced similar challenges
It’s well documented how much the football and basketball programs at MSU are intertwined. Tom Izzo loves how the football program is run, and how head football coach Mark Dantonio runs his team, and Dantonio feels the same about Izzo. The basketball team traveled to Indianapolis to cheer on the football team in the Big Ten Championship Game, and some of the football team, led by “Yes man” Travis Jackson pumped up the Breslin Center crowd in the Big Ten home opener. Izzo said many times that he dreams of the day when the football and basketball teams will both win national championships, and that dream seemingly is getting closer to a reality if the results continue as they currently are. The fact that MSU has not lost a Big Ten game in football and men’s basketball in the 2013-14 academic year, and that conference power Ohio State hasn’t gotten a win in either sport since facing off against MSU reinforces that right now is a good time to be a Spartan. But that doesn’t mean the term “just like football” doesn’t apply to the entire season on the court, and not just after wins against the Buckeyes. The comparisons begin before last season even ended. Both had somewhat disappointing seasons after the football team finished the regular season 6-6 in 2012, and the basketball team finished 24-7 with three losses in their last five games. And both had some success in the postseason that increased the pressure on each team the following season. The football team got out to an interesting start in 2013, with a few lackluster performances and a quarterback controversy, while the basketball team had to deal with a plethora of injuries. Connor Cook eventually settled in under center and got into an unprecedented groove, while the basketball team trudged through their schedule with nine different lineups in 14 games to get off to the best start in program history.