It was the first time two top-five teams had ever played in East Lansing, and by the time it was over Tuesday night’s tilt between the Spartans and Hoosiers had become a classic.
For the second week in a row, the MSU women’s basketball team will take the Breslin Center floor one day following a highly-anticipated men’s matchup with a winning streak against a conference foe on the line.
The stakes were already high, a late season battle for first place in the Big Ten, but there was extra juice in Breslin Center on Tuesday night.
As the scattered remains of Jimmy John’s wrappers and Little Caesar’s Pizza boxes tumbled in the bone-chilling wind across the snow-covered lawn, hundreds of students wrapped around Breslin Center in excitement for the highly-anticipated No.
Close, but no cigar. Three weeks ago, this was the overarching message after the then-No. 13 MSU men’s basketball team left Assembly Hall with a 75-70 loss to then-No.
For the first time in history, the MSU men’s basketball team will host a top-five matchup, as the No. 4 Spartans (22-4 overall, 11-2 Big Ten) square off against No. 1 Indiana (23-3, 11-2) in front of a national television audience (7 p.m., ESPN).
With a difficult stretch of games during the next week, the No. 8 MSU men’s basketball team saw an opportunity this weekend to hone some of its shortcomings against Nebraska.
The emotions were difficult to hide on both sides. For the visitors wearing green it was disappointment.
Coming off one of the biggest victories of the season against No. 4 Michigan, the talk of practice this week for the No.
_Ann Arbor, Mich. – _Now that was how a rivalry game should be. Despite 21 points in a heroic effort from guard Jasmine Thomas in the senior’s final regular season match up with archrival Michigan, it wasn’t enough to end her Spartan career undefeated against the Wolverines. Michigan (19-6 overall, 8-4 Big Ten) broke its 12-game losing streak to MSU on Sunday afternoon with a dramatic 70-69 win in front of a sellout crowd at Crisler Center.
Michigan standout sharpshooter Kate Thompson hit her first four shots, including three 3-pointers to help the Wolverines jump out to an early seven-point lead about seven minutes in. Thompson cooled off though and the energy of the opening tip died down at Crisler Center to allow MSU to run off 11 straight points and take a 22-19 lead. Behind senior guard Jasmine Thomas’ team-high 11 points, MSU leads U-M 32-28 at the intermission.
The Breslin Center crew had yet to finish using their leaf blowers to clear away popcorn, wrappers and cups left behind from the Spartan women’s basketball team’s most lopsided conference victory.
It was a night in which seemingly everything went right for the Spartans at Breslin Center. That was evident when MSU women’s basketball coach Suzy Merchant summoned Mariah Harris from the bench to check into her first game action since Dec. 16, 2012.
On Tuesday, The State News published five keys for the Spartans to win the first ever top-10 clash with the rival Wolverines. The No. 8 MSU men’s basketball team (21-4 overall, 10-2 Big Ten) dominated No. 4 Michigan (21-4, 8-4) from start to finish, winning 75-52 in front of a frenzied crowd of 14,797 in attendance. Here’s how MSU fared when it came to the pregame keys.
The last time Mateen Cleaves took the floor against Michigan, he left a lasting impression not soon forgotten.
It might have been the first time the MSU and U-M’s men’s basketball programs met as a pair of top-10 teams, but it certainly didn’t feel like it.
The talk began months ago, back when the ink dried on their letters of intent. The greatest University of Michigan freshman class since the Fab Five.
It was a night in which nearly everything went right for the Spartans at Breslin Center. That was evident when Mariah Harris scored five points on her first two touches of the night.
With a crowd of media surrounding him near his locker late Tuesday night, Derrick Nix was asked a question he knew was coming. Given the events that had just transpired, it was inevitable. “How great can you guys be?”
Thirteen seconds. That’s all it took. Thirteen seconds. That’s how quickly MSU scored to take the lead.