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.
There’s not a single feeling of pomp and circumstance in the locker room. There are few smiles beyond the ones for the satisfaction of a victory, or the amusement of hearing the same questions repeatedly from reporters. There’s not even an official Nike Sweet 16 celebration shirt.
Maryland doesn’t join the Big Ten Conference until 2014, but there’s no time like the present to notice the budding rivalry between the Terrapins and Spartans.
Before the MSU men’s basketball team took on Memphis in the third round of the NCAA Tournament, Keith Appling did something he usually doesn’t do before a game. He turned on a TV.
College Park, Md. – The MSU women’s basketball team withstood a late comeback to narrowly avoid a classic NCAA Tournament upset scenario as the No. 5 seed on Saturday afternoon, taking down No. 12 seed Marist, 55-47.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — When Gary Harris used to run across the hardwood at the Palace of Auburn Hills, it often didn’t draw a ton of attention. But 14 years later, sprinting around the same court his mother used to play on professionally, all eyes were on Harris. Making his first appearance on the NCAA Tournament stage this weekend, the Spartans’ first-ever Big Ten Freshman of the Year introduced himself to a national audience, with a breakout performance propelling the Spartans to the Sweet 16. Harris scored a game-high 23 points to help the No.