Tom Izzo is among the most highly-respected and intelligent minds in the game of college basketball. After nearly two decades and 429 victories at the helm for the MSU men’s basketball team, there’s not a lot of disputing that.
For several weeks, MSU head coach Tom Izzo has emphasized the importance of Keith Appling putting together a consistent game from start to finish.
After hanging on the fringe for most of this season, the MSU women’s basketball team has cracked the Associated Press Top 25 poll this week. The No. 25 Spartans (16-2 overall, 4-1 Big Ten)are ranked for the first time since the final poll of the 2010-11 season.
The tough Big Ten gauntlet continues for the No. 13 MSU men’s basketball team (16-3 overall, 5-1 Big Ten), as the Spartans travel to Madison, Wisc., to take on the Badgers (13-5, 4-1). Join tonight’s live chat to get up-to-the-minute updates on the game and share comments and questions with The State News’ men’s basketball reporter, Josh Mansour.
It’s one of the most common and difficult barriers in all of collegiate athletics: the freshman wall. A talented freshman excels for the first several months of the season before experiencing a sudden and noticeable decline. Though difficult to predict when it might happen or the reason behind its occurrence, it’s a physical barrier facing many of college basketball’s diaper dandies.
The buzzer sounded as the ball miraculously floated through the net.
The MSU women’s basketball team kicked off a challenging four-game stretch that features three road games with a 56-46 win on Sunday at Indiana behind sophomore guard Kiana Johnson’s15-point performance.
An impressive all-around outing from sophomore guard Kiana Johnson powered MSU to a 56-46 win at Indiana Sunday afternoon. Johnson paced MSU (16-2 overall, 4-1 Big Ten) with 15 points while adding five assists and four rebounds. The Spartans’ win begins a stretch that includes three road trips in the next four games.
There are a few times each game where Adreian Payne shows off how good he can be. Although sometimes lost in moments of frustration or general fatigue, there are the moments when Payne throws down a dunk or dishes a nifty pass or, more recently, fires a shot from beyond the 3-point line that reminds head coach Tom Izzo of the player he once recruited.
The Spartans might not know who their leading scorer will be each night. They might not know where they’ll finish in the crowded Big Ten. They might even continue to be the “strangest” 16-3 team Tom Izzo has ever coached. But one thing they know for sure — when the game is on the line, Keith Appling delivers. The junior guard came through in winning time again Saturday night, scoring MSU’s final six points to carry the No.
Keith Appling stood at the free throw line, stared straight ahead and exhaled deeply. After being hounded all night by Ohio State’s Aaron Craft, MSU’s junior guard had the chance to get the last laugh. Appling delivered. Calmly sinking both free throws, Appling sealed a big victory for the No.
Sparks of MSU offense bookended the first half, as the Spartans used back-to-back fast break baskets to take a 30-26 lead over No.
In the final, regular season game of the 2011-12 season, Ohio State was in the business of breaking hearts.
Klarissa Bell announced her presence at Breslin Center in dramatic fashion Thursday night.
If Klarissa Bell, MSU’s leading scorer, didn’t have the attention of the visiting Hawkeyes when they got off the bus, they definitely did when her half court heave tied Thursday’s game at 25 at the halftime buzzer. Behind Bell’s career-high 25 points, the Spartans downed Iowa 65-54. Tied at 51 apiece with 3:37 left to play, MSU took advantage of a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to pull away — led by Bell and the outside shooting of junior forward Annalise Pickrel. Pickrel was fouled with 59 seconds left and hit one of two free throws to give the Spartans a 13-point lead at which point Iowa stopped fouling and let the time run out.
The Hawkeyes jumped out to an early 8-2 lead as MSU struggled shooting from the floor in the early going. The Spartans battled through a shooting slump that dipped to 21.4 percent at one point halfway through the first 20 minutes and kept the margin within five.
With hours to prepare the No. 18 MSU basketball team for battle with Penn State, MSU men’s head basketball coach Tom Izzo first had to deal with a battle of a different variety.
The MSU women’s basketball team hopes to welcome back redshirt freshman forward Akyah Taylor to the rotation for tonight’s home game against Iowa at 6 p.m. Normally, the Spartans (14-2 overall, 2-1 Big Ten ) would not make a big deal out of the return of a player who has averaged 9.3 minutes of play in four game appearances.
The MSU men’s basketball team is set to take on Penn State on the road Wednesday night. Follow along with our live chat here, and leave your questions, comments and analysis for State News men’s basketball reporter Josh Mansour.
Two MSU basketball players were involved in what police believe to be an altercation this morning at a Penn State campus hotel.