Indianapolis – It started a few weeks ago. With the final postseason of his career approaching, Derrick Nix was looking at the end, seeing the inevitable light at the end of the tunnel.
Hundreds came from near and far to send Tom Izzo off to the Sweet 16 at a pep rally held a few hours before tipoff at the team’s hotel Friday evening.
Much of the pregame attention before Friday night’s Sweet 16 matchup has been focused on the coaching matchup between two of the NCAA Tournament’s winningest head coaches, but it’s an Izzo that won’t be roaming the sideline that got some extra publicity this week.
Indianapolis — Sitting with his teammates at Breslin Center, watching the NCAA Tournament’s Selection Show for the first time as a college basketball player, Gary Harris saw the Spartans’ name pop up on the TV screen and began to cheer.
Check out five keys and five storylines for MSU to beat Duke and head to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight.
When Brandon Sartele burned a couch last spring, he hoped to show his Spartan spirit after the men’s basketball team lost in the Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament game to Louisville.
The names of the coaches in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament read like a who’s who in college basketball.
At 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, a full 2 1/2 hours before tickets officially went on sale, human development and family studies junior Faye Van Oostenburg staked out the Izzone office on the third floor of the Union for a chance to see the MSU men’s basketball team face Duke in Indianapolis tomorrow. “It’s (about) the experience,” Van Oostenburg said with a smile.
The quest for the Spartans’ third national championship continues this weekend, when MSU heads to Indianapolis to face one of the most storied programs in NCAA Tournament history.
Tom Izzo didn’t board the bus until he posed for every picture, shook every hand and greeted every fan that wanted it.
With the final chapter written on the 2012-13 MSU women’s basketball season Monday night in College Park, Md., head coach Suzy Merchant finally admitted it.
COLLEGE PARK, MD. – For five years, Courtney Schiffauer has been the tough girl on the MSU women’s basketball team, and the one no other team has wanted to play. But now, after a 74-49 loss to Maryland Monday night, it’s all over. “It was my life, it was my world,” Schiffauer said chocking back tears.
COLLEGE PARK, MD. – One day, this will be a normal thing: two conference foes duking it out in the Big Ten.
Never before have as many upset-minded teams advanced this far in the NCAA Tournament, but through all the chaos, two programs remain: Tom Izzo’s Spartans and Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils.
Sometimes it’s hard to know what Gary Harris is thinking.
Alyssa Thomas gave the Spartans all they could handle in a 74-49 loss Monday night at Comcast Center in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
After 20 minutes of play, the fifth seeded MSU women’s basketball team trails fourth seed Maryland 34-23.
With high-flying dunks and long-arching threes, the Spartans advanced to their fifth Sweet 16 appearance in six years behind the acrobatics of Adreian Payne and the precision of Gary Harris. An explosive first half from Harris followed by a dominant second half from Payne helped power the No.
During Maryland’s first-round NCAA Tournament game against Quinnipiac on Saturday, ESPN2 flashed an interesting graphic onto the screen.